The Gigantic Maitreya Buddha of Xumishan Grottoes, China
The gigantic statue of Maitreya Buddha at Xumishan Grottoes in China
Within the Buddhist faith there is a strong tradition of building large Buddha statues, and this practice is actually one of compassion. Large Buddha statues have many benefits, they calm the environment and promote harmony, they plant imprints of enlightenment in the minds of all that see them, they bless animals and unseen beings, and they provide excellent representations of the Buddha’s body to make offerings to. As China has a powerful Buddhist culture they have many sacred sites where Buddhist practitioners of the past engaged in deep meditation. These sites are located in serene mountains and hillsides all over the country. Some of these even have large and magnificent Buddha statues like the Xumishan Grottoes, where the fantastic gigantic statue of Buddha Maitreya is located.
Tsem Rinpoche
Xumishan Grottoes
The Xumishan Grottoes (Chinese: 须弥山石窟) are a collection of more than 130 Buddhist cave temples, built between the fifth century until the tenth century, on the eastern edge of Mount Xumi in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of China.
The Maitreya Buddha at Xumishan Grottoes
History
Construction began during the Northern Wei dynasty (368-534) and were put under periodic reconstruction during later dynasties until the Tang dynasty (618-906). The site was situated along the Silk Road, an important route for the spread of Buddhism. The influence of this trade route is apparent in the decorative motifs, with influences drawn from India and Central Asia. Prior to the construction of the grottoes, the area was known as Fengyishan.
The Site
The site has been subdivided into 5 scenic sites: Dafo Tower, Zisun Palace, Yuanguang Temple, Xiangguo Temple and Taohua Cave. Within the grottoes, statues, wall paintings and inscribed stelae can be found. Carved into red sandstone cliffs, many of the caves have little to no decorative elements. It is thought that the grottoes may have served to house monks.
The site’s most iconic element is a 65-foot depiction of the seated future Buddha. While the Buddha is currently protected by a large fence, it has been subjected to erosion and improper conservation.
Threats
While the area has been protected by China since 1982 as a National Level Cultural Relic Protected Site, there are many threats to its survival. The caves are threatened by exposure to the elements (particularly wind and sand erosion), earthquakes, looting, vandalism and insufficient management. The site has been listed among the top 100 endangered architectural and cultural sites in the world.
Additionally, improper architectural conservation techniques have been employed at the site, including the use of cement on the seated Buddha in 1982.
Maitreya Buddha of Xumishan Grottoes
Information about the Maitreya Statue
Location: Cave no. 5 of Xumishan grottoes, Sanying, Guyuan, Ningxia, China
Total height: 20.6 metres
Height of Buddha’s head: 5 metres
Height of Buddha’s ear: 3 metres
Special note: some people believe that the statue is carved from a single piece of large stone
History: carving of the statue began in the early Tang Dynasty during the time that Empress Wu Zetian (690 – 705 CE) ruled. It was completed during the reign of Emperor Tang Xuan Zong (712 – 756 CE). Empress Wu Zetian wanted to purify her karma and collect merit. During her reign much blood and wars happened. So she wanted to purify her actions during her rule.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xumishan_Grottoes
How to Get There
The Xumishan Grottoes are located 55 kilometers from Guyuan in the northwest of China; on the peak of a mountain north of Sikouzi River.
To reach the site from Guyuan, you can take a public bus to the small town of Sanying near it (about 6 RMB per ticket), and then take another bus from there to Xumi Mountain (about 5 RMB per ticket). The whole trip, if you go by bus, may cost less than 1 USD and fifty cents and take about an hour or more.
Source: https://www.chinahighlights.com/guyuan/attraction/xumishan-grottos.htm
A map of the location of Xumishan Grottoes in China.
More Pictures
For more interesting information:
- 86 Grand Statues of the World
- China’s Huge Buddha Statues
- The Beishan Grottoes
- Kizil Grottoes – The Thousand-Buddha Caves
- Yungang Grottoes
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The number of merits accrued from making Buddha images will be equal to the number of atoms used to form that image. The formula is simple – the larger the Buddha image, the more atoms came together to form that image and therefore the more merits are accumulated in making the statue.
The larger the image, the more mantras and Buddha images can be inserted into the statue to help people accumulate even more merits in a shorter time. In this way, when someone prostrates, circumambulates or makes offerings to a single large Buddha statue, they are in reality prostrating, circumambulating and making offerings to the many more mantras and Buddha images that the large statue contains.
For example, in the modern era we can fit one million Buddha images, mantras and Sutras on a small thumb drive and when inserted into a small Buddha statue, when we prostrate to the statue although it is so small, we are prostrating to one million Buddhas; when we circumambulate and so forth, it is the same. Therefore, we are collecting the merit of interacting with one million Buddhas. The advantages of multiplicity and size are thus combined to accumulate even more merits and purify even more karma, therefore maximizing the benefits we are able to acquire from the limited amount of time we dedicate to spiritual practice.
It also goes without saying that the larger the statue, the more people will be able to see it from afar, thereby planting seeds of enlightenment in their mind-stream without them even consciously thinking about it. It is from this same motivation that we wear Buddha pendants, put Buddha statues in our cars and generally try to propagate the image of the Buddha’s body, speech and mind as widely as possible. It is all about planting seeds of enlightenment in people’s mind-streams and helping them to generate as much merit and purify as much karma as possible.
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The gigantic Buddha is really magnificent. China is really rich with such big beautiful and blessed Buddha images. It’s really a blessing to visit this place. Not only for viewing purposes but we can make it as a purification visit as we can visit the Buddha statue while reciting mantra. For the people that made the big Buddha statue really collect tremendous merits. It’s said that the amount of merits accrued from making Buddha images will be equal to the number of atoms used to form that image. The formula is simple – the larger the Buddha image, the more atoms came together to form that image and therefore the more merits are accumulated in making the statue.
The same principle can be extended to those who make offerings, prostrate or circumambulate the image. A person making offerings, prostrating and circumambulating will be able to amass even more merits because their actions are being done in relations to a larger statue, whereby a larger number of atoms came together to represent a Buddha form.
It also goes without saying that the larger the statue, the more people will be able to see it from afar, thereby planting seeds of enlightenment in their mind-stream without them even consciously thinking about it.
Dear Rinpoche, thank you for sharing these amazing pictures of Maitreya Buddha and the history of Xumishan Grottoes. Hope can visit someday. Thank you and have a nice day!
Amazing big statue of Maitreya Buddha of Xumishan Grottes, China. This outdoor Maitreya Buddha statue is magnificent. Big outdoor Buddha statue has a lot of benefits to the entire area where the statue is built on and also all the sentient beings that is around that statue. Large Buddha statues have many benefits just by seeing it. They calm the environment, humans or animals that can see the statue will be planted with dharmic imprints that will benefit them in their future lives when they are triggered. Thank you Rinpoche and blog team for sharing this short article and beautiful pictures of Maitreya Buddha ???
This outdoor Maitreya Buddha statue is magnificent. Big outdoor Buddha statue has a lot of benefits to the entire area where the statue is built on and also all the sentient beings that is around that statue. In history, there are large outdoor Buddhas that were built specifically to calm the area down. Areas that are prone to accidents or natural disasters are recommended to have a large Buddha statue to calm the land and also the unseen beings around that area.
Leishan Giant Buddha is one of the examples of an outdoor Buddha statue that is purposely created to calm the environment down. The Buddha statue is carved from a cliff and it depicts Maitreya Buddha who is very popular in China. The statue overlooks a river which has turbulent waters that caused alot of problem for shipping vessels that travels down the river. After the Buddha statue is being made, the water of the river did calm down. This is just one of the examples.
Large outdoor Buddha statues are also built to bless the sentient beings that reside in that area. Humans or animals that can see the statue will be planted with Dharmic imprints that will benefit them in their future lives when they are triggered. Unseen beings around the area will also be blessed and pacified by the Buddha statue. That is why having a large outdoor Buddha statue is very beneficial.
Wow ….amazing big statue of Maitreya Buddha of Xumishan Grottes, China. Love to see images of Buddha in what ever such as statues, thangkas, printings or whatever so. Merely by looking at it made my day wonderful. So large Buddha statues have many benefits, just by seeing it as it. They calm the environment, and will be planting imprints of enlightenment in all who see them. It also bless animals and unseen beings too.
Hope can see this gigantic Maitreya Buddha statue its look amazing from the pictures.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing .
Amazingly huge Buddha statue. With the limited technologies during that period and people are able to build a huge Buddha statue on a cave and that it has last hundreds of years is incredible. While we may not have the opportunity to visit this holy place, we are so lucky to be able to see all the beautiful pictures here. Really hope this place can last long and China government will keep protecting this area from an vandalism.