Leshan Giant Buddha, Sichuan province, China

December 1969 Issue

Leshan Giant Buddha, Sichuan province, China

If you wanted to pray at the feet of this Buddha, you could have a lot of company. The subject of December’s photo, the Leshan Giant Buddha, which sits at the confluence of the Mingjiang, Dadu and Qingyi rivers in China's Sichuan province, is the world’s largest carved-stone Buddha.

Carved out of the red-sandstone cliff between AD 713 and 803, the statue is 233 feet high and, at the shoulders, 98 feet wide. At least 100 people could stand on the tops of his feet.

Forty-three readers sent in the correct answer, and SUSAN GJERDE of Davis, California, won the drawing. We thank Willard M. Gentry of Durham, North Carolina, for contributing the photo.