September 20 – A Statue of Buddha Loses Its Protective Hall

nPostednon September 20, 2016

nItnis fascinating to think about which things we create and build cann“stand the test of time,” can outlive us, can last decades orncenturies or even (rarely) millennia.

For the most part, only things made of
stone, bone, shell, pottery, and other
hard materials can last for millennia.

nWhennwe study pre-historic cultures, it might be wise to stay humble bynreflecting how few of our actions and passions could be reconstructednhundreds or thousands of years from now from the artifacts (objects)nthat would still be around then. So we probably are unaware of a LOTnof what pre-historic people did and cared about, as well, right?

nStill,nwe have to use what evidence we do have to learn about their lives,nto reconstruct as much of their reality as we can. Those peoples whondrew pictures and/or recorded in writing their history left us a lotnmore data about their lives and cultures.

nTodaynI bring you the history of a famous Japanese landmark: the GreatnBuddha of Kamakura, in the Buddhistntemple called Kōtoku-in.nn

This is a lovely statue of the Buddha statue, but it’s hard to tell how large it is.

The photo below is helpful in showing the size:

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nAroundn1233, sculptors began carving a giant wooden Buddha, a project paidnfor by the fundraising efforts of a noblewoman and a Buddhist priest.nAfter ten years of hard word, the Buddha was completed.

nHowever,njust five years after the completion, a storm damaged the sculpturenand destroyed the building (or “hall”) that housed the statue.

nBacknto the fundraising efforts, big time. This time around, the Buddhistnpriest suggested that the statue be a little more sturdy, made ofnbronze.

nTheynwere going to need a LOT more money.

nThenstatue was probably cast in 1252, and it was gilded with gold. Oncenagain a hall was built to house the statue.

nThatnhall was destroyed by a storm in 1334.

nItnwas rebuilt.

nThenhall was damaged by another storm in 1369. (What’s with it with thesenbuilding-maiming storms?)

nItnwas rebuilt again.

nThisntime the hall lasted more than a hundred years. That is a really longntime, for sure. This time, when it was destroyed, it wasn’t by a merenstorm – it was by a tsunami!

nYounsee, on this date in 1498, an earthquake caused a tsunami – andnthat gigantic wave washed away the hall built to protect the GreatnBuddha statue. n

nButnthe statue itself was fine. Sure, by now almost all of the gold hadnflaked or washed off – we can still see a little in the folds ofnthe statue’s ears – but the statue is more than 43 feet (13 meters)ntall! And it weighs about 102 tons (93 metric tonnes)! It wasn’tngoing to wash away…

nEvernsince that day, the bronze statue has remained uncovered,nunprotected, in the open air. n

You can see what the inside of the Great Buddha looks like —
and how light enters the hollow interior — in these photos.

I believe that the graffiti is removed as soon as it is discovered.

Pigeons no doubt leave
unsightly droppings on
the statue. But they can’t
read and understand the
sign; people can, and they
should know not to graffiti the
statue even without a sign!

nBynthe way, it almost seems silly to think of a merely wooden buildingnprotecting a monumental bronze sculpture, but maybe the whole ideanwasn’t protection from storms and waves. It may have been meant asnprotection from people! I read that there used to be 32 bronze lotusnpetals at the base of the statue, but now only 4 remain. And I’m sadnto report that there is graffiti in the hollow insides of the statue!

nWhoevernwould graffiti an amazing and really old statue, a work that is holynto some, has got to be lacking some pretty important qualities. Inthink that they probably didn’t read the sign at the entrance to thengrounds – or at least they didn’t take the message to heart:

n“Stranger,nwhosoever thou art and whatsoever be thy creed, when thou enterestnthis sanctuary remember thou treadest upon ground hallowed by thenworship of ages. This is the Temple of Bhudda [sic] and the gate ofnthe eternal, and should therefore be entered with reverence.”

n(Inncase you don’t know, “[sic]” is placed into quotes to indicatenthat a misspelling or other mistake is original to the quote. In thisncase, I didn’t misspell “Buddha”; whoever created the temple’snsign did.)

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