crystal's capers

One Big-ass Buddha

On Sunday the ladies and I pulled ourselves together (this involved getting out of bed by 1:30pm, eating some McDonald's, and taking some Tylenol) and drove a short way to visit the world's largest Buddha, in Ushiku. Actually, the Buddha is now recorded as being the largest statue in the world; three times larger than the Statue of Liberty! Quite Impressive.



The grounds would have been picturesque had we not visited in December, as such we have pledged to return next spring. The four floors inside the Buddha were filled with gift shops, and a museum which discussed the building of the Buddha (about 15 years ago), the heritage of Buddha and the religion of Buddhism. Very cool.

If we were so inclined, we could have purchased a shrine inside the Buddha on which our name would be placed... or, better yet, we could have purchased a burial plot within the grounds!! I'm guessing both of these expenditures would have been quite expensive.

Although I would like to take credit for this shot, my skills of flight are currently disabled; I stole this picture of a picture of an aerial view.

Newly awarded certification from Guinness that the Buddha is, in fact, the world's largest statue.

Here is a smaller replica of the Buddha's head. They had one of his toe too, which was actual size and about 20X the size of me!!

Proof that this is one big-ass Buddha!

Here Jody and Tressa are partaking in the pre-prayer cleansing ritual. More of this ritual involves dousing oneself in the smoke from insense and ringing the gong.

We all wished it was just a little warmer and a little sunnier, but overall our Buddha experience was a good one. A must-see!