World's Symbol of Buddha - the Gal Vihare

Located in north central Sri Lanka, Polonnaruwa is the place of one of the most wonderful of the world’s representations of the Buddha - the Gal Vihare. This immense rock temple was built by Parakramabahu the Great in the 12th century.

The central attractions of the temple are 4 huge statues of the Buddha engraved into the face of a granite boulder. Among these gigantic stone figures are a Reclining Statue of the Buddha that measures about 14 meters (46 feet) in length and a standing figure measuring 7 meters (23 feet) high.

World's Tallest Statue - Ushiku Daibutsu

The Ushiku Daibutsu is located in the city of Ushiku in Japan. Completed in 1995, it is one of the world’s tallest statues, positioning a total of 120 meters (394 feet) high including the 10m (30 foot) base and 10m high lotus platform.

Visitors to the statue can take an elevator to a platform upto 85m from the ground where an observation decorate is situated. The bronze-plated figure represents Amitabha Buddha, and is also known as Ushiku Arcadia.

World's largest and oldest Reclining Buddha

Wat Pho is famous for the massive Reclining Buddha statue located in Bangkok. It is one of the oldest and also largest temples in Bangkok, built nearly 200 years before Bangkok became Thailand’s capital. Wat Pho holds the division of having both Thailand’s largest Reclining Buddha image and also the largest number of Buddha images in Thailand.

The fully gold-plated Reclining Buddha statue is 46 meters long and 15 meters high, and remember the passing of the Buddha into Nirvana. The statue’s eyes and feet are decorated with carved mother of pearl, the soles of the feet showing the 108 auspicious characteristics of the true Buddha.

World's famous Buddhist Temple - Kamakura Great Buddha

The Kotoku- is a prominent Buddhist temple of the Jodo shu sect situated in the city of Kamakura in Japan. The temple is famous for its great Buddhist statue (or daibutsu). A massive outdoor demonstration of Amida Buddha, is one of Japan’s most celebrated Buddhist figures.

Cast in bronze, the Great Buddha stands at over 13 meters(40 feet) in height and weighs nearly 93 tons.The statue reportedly dates from 1252 and is generally believed to have been spread by the Buddhist monk Joko, who also collected donations to build the temple for Buddha.

Although it initially was housed in a small wooden temple, the Great Buddha now stands in the open air as the original temple was cleaned away in a tsunami in the 15th century.

Temple of the Emerald Buddha oldest and most famous statues of the Buddha in the world

Bangkok’s Buddhist temple is Wat Phra Kaew, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, situated within the grounds of the Grand Palace. The primary building is the central ubosoth, which houses the Emerald Buddha, one of the oldest and most famous statues of the Buddha in the world.

A jade statue decorated in gold clothing, the Emerald Buddha was, according to legend, created in India in 43 BC in the city of Pataliputra, where it remained for 300 years. In the 4th century AD it was taken away to Sri Lanka by Buddhist monks to save it from damage by war.

Finally the statue made its way to Thailand and was moved to Wat Phra Kaew in 1779. The statue has three different sets of gold clothing, which is changed by the King of Thailand in a ceremony at the changing of the seasons.

One of the World’s Biggest Buddha Statues--Leshan Great Buddha

The Leshan Giant Buddha is an extremely large statue carved out of a cliff face in Sichuan, western China. This great sculpture is a figure of Maitreya, i.e. a Bodhisattva traditionally represented in sitting posture.

Giant Buddha work had begun in the year of 713 during the Tang Dynasty and the statue was not completed until the year of 803. The effort of thousands of sculptors and workers had completed its work.

Leshan Giant Buddha considered being the biggest carved stone Buddha in the world; it is featured in many poetry, song and story. The sculpture stands about 71 meters i.e. 233 feet high and have three metered i.e. 11 feet long fingers on each of its enormous resting hands.

Buddha’s teaching deals with the major obstacles and way to over come the obstacles

Buddha teaching says that the five hindrances (Nivarana) are the major obstacles to our concentration.

1. The Sensual desire i.e. abhidya
   
2. Ill will, abhorrence, or anger i.e. pradosha
3. Laziness and sluggishness i.e. styana and middha
4. Restlessness and worrying i.e. anuddhatya and kaukritya
   
5. Doubt i.e. vichikitsa -- doubt, skepticism, indecisiveness, or vacillation, without the wish to cure it, more like the common idea of cynicism or pessimism than open-mindedness or desire for evidence.

Meditation is one of the best ways to overcome all the above mentioned problems. So Buddhist often does meditation to avoid all the obstacles in order to obtain the Nivarana. Buddhist monks also teach the proper meditation to their students.

Amazing and rare Buddhist art objects were unearthed from Gobi Desert

A joint Austrian-Mongolian treasure hunt team has unearthed a rare Buddhists treasure which was not founf for more than 70 years, in the Gobi Desert.

The relics, which include statues, artwork, manuscripts and personal belongings of a famous 19th Century Buddhist master, were buried in the 1930s during Mongolia’s Communist purge, when hundreds of monasteries were abused and destroyed.

Michael Eisenriegler, leader of the operation, had told in the BBC World Service that they were filled with “the most amazing Buddhist art objects”.

This expert had said that “It is of tremendous value for Mongolian culture because Buddhism was almost destroyed in the Communist times, especially in the 1930s. I’m totally exhausted in the operation but still I’m also totally impressed with what I’ve seen.”

The finds will be put on show at the Danzan Ravjaa Museum in Sainshand, 400km (450 miles) south of the Mongolian capital, Ulan Bator and nearly 20 boxes were remain hidden in the desert.