Once you reach the top, you finally come across the 82 ft., 1900-ton reinforced concrete statue of the Guanyin Bodhisattva Kannon.
Guanyin is the Chinese translation fothe Bodhisattva known as Avalokitesvara and is a Buddhist Bodhisattva associated with compassion and mercy.
According to wikipedia sources: Some Buddhists believe that when one of their adherents departs from this world, they are placed by Guanyin in the heart of a lotus, and then sent to the western Pure Land of Sukhāvatī.
Guanyin is often referred to as the “most widely beloved Buddhist Divinity” with miraculous powers to assist all those who pray to her, as is said in the Lotus Sutra and Karandavyuha Sutra.
In a way, it was a bit surprising because you always see the head of the bodhisattva sticking out of the lush green trees and wonder, how big is this thing?
But when you finally get up there, you realize it’s quite huge but there is a part of you that thinks it would be even larger.
Quite surprising that the construction took nearly thirty years. From it’s beginning back in 1929 and the final completion in 1960. And to think, it was done entirely by hand, no concrete trucks were used.
Around the area you can see an incense area, stones with writing…
But there is something special with these stones. They are stones from ground zero of Hiroshima and Nagasaki which were taken to the area to commemorate those who died in the explosions of the atomic bomb.
Of course, the things which I posted in yesterday’s blog post is also in the top area of where the Bodhisattva Kannon is located.
Unfortunately, you can’t walk on the grass, you can’t touch the concrete statue.
But, hidden inside the Bodhisattva Kannon is a museum, which I will talk about tomorrow.
