The Great Buddha of Kamakura

 

The Great Buddha of Kamakura is a monumental outdoor bronze sculpture of Buddha located at the Kōtoku-in Temple in Kamakura Japan. The bronze statue was cast in 1252. According to temple records. It was preceded by a giant wooden Buddha, which was completed in 1243 after ten years of continuous labor, the funds having been raised by Lady Inada (Inada-no-Tsubone) and the Buddhist priest Jōkō of Tōtōmi. That wooden statue was damaged by a storm in 1248, and the hall containing it was destroyed, so Jōkō suggested making another statue of bronze, and the huge amount of money necessary for this and for a new hall was raised for the project. 

 The hall was destroyed by a storm in 1334, and rebuilt again, then was damaged by yet another storm in 1369, and was rebuilt yet again. The last building housing the statue was washed away in a tsunami in 1498, Since then, the Great Buddha has stood in the open air and has always been one of Japan's most visited sites.

 The original statue is 48 feet tall, our reproduction which dates to the 19th Century is 7.5 inches tall.

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