Ushiku Daibutsu is a statue of Buddha, located in Ushiku Ibaraki, Japan. Completed in 1993, this statue stands at 120 meters (including a base and lotus platform), making it one of the tallest in the world. In 1995, the Guinness Book of World Records recognized this statue as the tallest standing Buddha in the world. Currently, it is the third biggest in the world. On my way back from the coast, my friends and I stopped by Ushiku to see what all the fuss was about. When we first spotted the Buddha, we couldn’t believe our eyes. It was huge!! Even from miles away, we could clearly see the Buddha over the surrounding trees. When we arrived, we parked our cars in the free parking lot, and paid ￥800 to enter the park and go inside the Buddha. When you enter the park, you will see a purity fountain, which is called Tsukubai. Visitors of Buddhist temples use the tsukubai to purify themselves by washing their hands and mouth. Tsukubai are often made of stone with water streaming out of bamboo pipes, called kakei. To purify yourself, wash your left hand, then right, then put fresh water in your mouth and spit out on the side of the tsukubai. When entering, there is a money box where you can pray On the other side, you will see the gigantic statue. The Ushiku Daibutsu is the tallest standing Buddha in Japan. Measurements: Weight: 4,000t Head: 20m Palm of Left Hand: 18m Index Finger: 7m Ear: 10m The real size of one of the Buddha’s toes. His toe alone is taller than 5 feet. There are 5 different floors to the Buddha. The First Floor represents the World of Infinite Light and Life. The Second Floor represents the World of Gratitude and Thankfulness: There is a room where you can sit and copy the sutra for Amitabha Buddha. The Third Floor represents the World of the Lotus Sanctuary: this room represents the pure land. This room was beautiful! It’s filled with 3,300 golden images of Buddha. The Fifth Floor is the Room of Mt. Grdhrakuta. Mt. Grdhrakuta is the name of the Indian Place remembered in connection with Buddha. There are 4 windows facing each direction, so you can check out the view from 80m up. Surrounding the Buddha on the ground floor is an animal park (where children can feed different animals), a pond with fish and a huge flower garden.
Posted on: Fri, 28 Nov 2014 11:23:38 +0000