The Great Buddha of Kamakura

This bronze statue of Amita Buddha was cast in 1252 A.D. and originally located inside a large temple hall. However, the temple buildings were washed away by a tsunami tidal wave in the end of the 15th century. In the 500 years since then, the holy statue has been exposed to sunshine, storms, and snow. The latest repair was done in 1960- 1961, to strengthen the Buddha's neck and to make it possible for the Buddha's body to move freely on the base to prevent a damaging shock to the statue in case of an earthquake. The statue is 13.35 meters tall, and weighs 121 tons.

The Daibutsu sits there in the open air, his head looming above the pine trees, and his face turned toward the peaceful waters of the ocean typical of the dreamland Nirvana. The statue is a patchwork of pieces of bronze, the surface being finished up with the file. There are distinctive characteristics

in each part of the body of the statue:The eye is horizontal

The eyebrow is semi-circular There is a white curl on the forehead that emits

rays of light revealing all worlds in the universe. It is made of pure silver weighing 13.5 kgs.

The mouth has a Ionian smile The ridge of the nose starts from the forehead

which retains something of Greek-Art The hair is made of a number of curls winding

clockwise. There are about 656 curls altogether. The legs are crossed and inclined slightly forward

The pose expresses the usual way of meditating on the part of Indians, and it is still adopted for

meditation by Japanese Buddhists, especially by the followers of Zen. The direction of the eyes is at

right angles facing the ground and gives the visitor a feeling of intimacy when approaching it.