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KOTOKUIN TEMPLE - JAPAN
Kotokuin Temple, better known as Kamakura Daibutsu, belongs to the Jodo Buddhist sect. The Jodo sect is a Pure Land sect of Buddhism that was founded in China, but was introduced into Japan in 1175 AD. Like all Pure Land sects the Jodo believe that to achieve salvation a person had to go to a higher power for aid. Those higher powers are Bodhisattvas, which are Buddhas that live in other universes. The Daibutsu was built with funds collected by a priest named Johko to help fulfill the wishes of the shogun Minamoto Yorimoto. There are three giant statues of Buddha from old Japan, but only the Big Buddha in Kamakura (15 meters) remains in original form. The Nara Daibutsu (15 meters) was recast, while the famous Kyoto Daibutsu (48 meters) was entirely destroyed in a fire and replaced by a small wooden substitute.The big statue Buddha (Daibutsu) in Kamakura was cast in 1252 and originally located inside a large temple hall of Kotokuin. However, the temple buildings were washed away by a tsunami tidal wave in the end of the 15th century, and since then the Buddha stands in the open air. The Great Buddha of Kamakura, cast in bronze in 1252, weighs 93 tons with a height of nearly 44 ft.
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