16 Most Awesome Giant Buddha Statues From Around The World

Buddha is a fairly unique religious symbol in the sense that he’s been the centerpiece of a religion for pretty much the longest of all the modern deities. Buddhism is currently the fourth-largest religion with about 520 million followers all over the world. It was first started in India and that’s still the region of the world we’re looking at to find the most Buddhist people.

Anyway, contrary to some other religions, Buddhism has little issue with depicting their God. In fact, Buddha has loads of statues and even tourist trinkets shaped into his typical image. If you want to spend your next holiday traveling the Earth for some of the best Buddha statues you can find, take a look below.

Giant Buddha, Leshan, China
This Buddha’s literally made of rocks. The statue was initially built to guide ships through the river’s currents but only finished 90 years after its initial construction in 713BC because the builder ran out of funds.

The Great Buddhas of Monywa, Myanmar
A marvelous pair of Buddha statues, aren’t they? They’re both about 100 meters tall and the reclining one actually has a collection of 9000 etchings that illustrate Buddha’s life. There’s a door you can enter in the statue’s backside where you can view all the etchings.

Reclining Buddha, Wat Pho, Bangkok, Thailand
Well, this Buddha is reclining, alright. Perhaps not the most usual modeling position, but a gorgeous statue nonetheless. Wat Pho is one of the oldest and biggest temples in Bangkok. The gold-plated statue actually has the 108 characteristics of the true Buddha on the soles of the feet.

The Daibutsu of Kamakura, Japan
A more serious Buddha, this one. This massive bronze statue has stood the test of time since 1252. He even survived a tsunami in the 15th century – but the tsunami did wipe away his temple. He’s now surrounded by cherry blossoms, which isn’t too bad either.

Laughing Buddha, Vinh Trang Pagoda, Vietnam
Bo Dai, as this version of Buddha is named, is very popular with children because of his massive grin. While the temple is as serene as you’d expect from a place a worship, Bo Dai nicely contrasts this.

Fo Guang Shan, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Perhaps one of the more famous Buddha statues out there. It’s no surprise this site is the biggest Buddhist monastery in Taiwan. It’s the headquarters of humanistic Buddhism and the monastery – with the impressive Amitabha Buddha on top – is part of a huge 30 hectare site.