A dozen Chinese workers are busy renovating a section of river embankments at the foot of the world's largest sitting Buddha statue to prevent it from erosion and pollution.
As the grand Buddha statue sits on a fault cliff above a river section where the Qingyi, Minjiang and Dadu rivers meet in southwest China's Sichuan Province, the river is full of stagnant water in winter when the water level declines to the lowest point.
Stream pollution seriously eroded the rocks of Linyun mountain, where the Leshan Mountain Giant Buddha statue sits.
China launched last April construction of a cofferdam and two 100-meter-long water drainage tunnels at the river section. The project is expected to be completed by the end of July.
This was part of the second phase of a maintenance project for the statue, which includes construction of a cliff-top plank road, a facelift of ancient architecture and stabilizing dangerous rocks.
Approximately two years are needed to complete the whole project, which is to cost an investment of 7.8 million yuan (939,759 US dollars) and be completed in two years, said Zeng Zhiliang, engineer with the ancient architecture construction.
The Buddha statue, which took 90 years to build some 1,200 years ago, was built by a Tang Dynasty monk named Haitong. It sits against the rock and looks over the three rivers. It is 72 meters from top to bottom and 28 meters from left to right, which is 18 meters higher than the destroyed standing Buddha statue at Bamian Valley, Afghanistan, once thought to be the highest of its kind in the world.
The head of the Leshan Buddha, 14.7 meters tall and 10 meters wide, is covered with 1,021 buns of curly hair, each of which is large enough to support a big round table. Each ear, seven meters long, can hold two people in its hole.
The statue, which was included on the World Cultural Heritage list in 1996, has suffered weathering from the wind, water, acid rain and damages from visitors for years. Some coiled buns on the head of the statue fell down and the face was darkened.
Renovation on the grand Buddha never ceased in the past 1,200 years. However, it was spontaneous and small in size during all imperial dynasties. Since the founding of new China in 1949, large-scale renovation on the Buddha statue was conducted once every 10 years.
The largest renovation on the Leshan Grand Buddha began in 2001and has yet to be finished. It was divided into three phases. The whole project is to cost 250 million yuan (about US$30 million), including two million US dollars in World Bank loans.
The first-stage, focused on repairing the head, shoulders, chest and midriff, was completed at the end of April 2001. A 150-square-meter platform was built at the foot of the Buddha to ensure visitors have a clear view of it.
The second phase began at the end of 2001. It was concentrated on anti-efflorescence, drainage systems at its foot and protection facilities against wind and water.
Due to brushing by water of the three rivers and striking by drifting objects, more than 20 holes can be seen at the mountain rocks beneath the grand Buddha, posing a threat to the large stone statue.
Construction workers are reinforcing rocks at the mountain foot, widening the plank road along the cliff of the mountain foot by 160 square meters and repairing ancient buildings in the scenic zone.
During the forthcoming third-phase maintenance, highway roads heading to the Leshan Mountain Grand Buddha will be equipped with air and sound pollution-free facilities.
To keep this world heritage site true to name, China has moved enterprises producing pollutants to other areas and armed the grand Buddha with "electronic bodyguards" to prevent the world's tallest Buddha from fire and flood.
(Xinhua News Agency June 22, 2004)
