Great Buddha of Kamakura
Tuesday, 29th November 2005 by Alex Turnbull
Right in the middle of our thumbnail, you can just make out the shape of the Great Buddha of Kamakura. Around 13 metres tall, the bronze statue is said to have been cast all the way back in 1252, and according to Wikipedia:
The Great Buddha was originally housed in a temple, but this was washed away by a tsunami in 1498, since when the statue has stood in the open air.
Wikipedia also mentions that each one of the Great Buddha's eyes are a metre wide!
Thanks to Ed German and Bill Pfeifer.
About the author
Alex has decided that his title will be Senior Vice President of Stuff.
Wow, cool! I’ve actually been to that Buddha IRL, so it’s cool seeing it getting some Google Sightseeing play. It’s absolutely huge in person, but kind of sad to visit, since you’re reminded that the tsunami that did away with its original temple also did away with most of the population in the area.
what is interesting to note about the tsunami is that this temple is several miles inland. imagine the size of the tsunami wave that travelled all the way inland and be strong enough to destroy the housing for buddha.
khalid
Miyake-Jima is about 85 miles due south.
And it is pretty spectacular.
Speaking of gigantic Buddha’s, has anybody been able to find the ones the Taliban blew up? I was rather hoping the satellite image was taken beforehand.
You won’t be able to see them they are actully carved into the mountain, the afgahnastan “government” is in the process to rebuild the buddas they weren’t completly destroted
opps i lied… its the japanese that are going about the reconstructin process, Buddhas of Bamiyan is there name
If I’ve figured it out properly, the Buddhas of Bamiyan would be here: View Placemark But there is no high resolution imagery. They would be in the whitish arc in the centre of the image, on the north side of the valley. If there were high resolution imagery you might be able to see them, depending on the view angle of the satellite.