Laitan Buddha History

Laitan Buddha located in Laitan Ancient Town, which is the infrequent gathering place of Buddha statue in China. In 1956, the main Buddha of Laitan Ancient Town was praised as the "First Batch Protected Unit of Cultural Relics", which is also called Laitan Buddha. In addition, Hechuan Fishing City is also a famous ancient battlefield site surrounding Laitan Buddha that tourists could visit at the same time.

Laitan Buddha History 

Ancient History

Laitan Buddha formerly known as Jiufeng Temple and located in Jiufeng Mountain with its magnificent scenery of group buildings. The group buildings were constructed with overhanging eaves and covered by mountains and trees, which impressed you of its mysterious scenery. It looks like the masterpiece of the nature.

The Buddha temple divided into two parts. The one part of buildings covers an area of 5346 square kilometers containing "Linggong Palace", "Tianwon Palace", "Yuhon Palace", "Dashon Palace", "Empress  Palace" "Weito Palace" and "Avalokitesvara Palace". According to the historical records, Laitan Buddha was twice damaged seriously in Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty (in 1861). The other part of the buildings contains the main Buddha hall with a coverage area of more than 1800 squaremeters.

Laitan Buddha also called the Second Buddha of Laitan Ancient Town because of the largest Buddha in Leshan called Leshan Buddha.

Modern History

Most of the buildings in Buddha temple were renovated in Qing Dynasty and the period of Republic of China. There were hundreds of Buddha statues inside one part of Buddha temple but totally destroyed during the time of Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). The other part of Buddha temple was full of Buddha carvings graved on the cliffs with a total coverage of more than 700 square meters. The main Buddha (Laitan Buddha) faces to the north and back against the south with 12.5 meters high, which respectively contains 6.32 meters of head circumference, 1.75 meters of face width and 3.6 meters of shoulder width. The feature of Buddha statue is combining with the characteristics of the eastern and western art.

Current History

The one part of Buddha Temple preserved 24 steles of inscriptions which could date back to Ming Dynasty, Qing Dynasty and the time of Republic of China. The other part of Buddha Temple contains 51 steles of inscriptions of Song Dynasty, Ming Dynasty, Qing Dynasty and the time of Republic of China. In addition, there are also preserved other cultural relics.