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Jade Buddha Palace (Chinese:玉佛苑;pinyin:Yù Fó Yuàn, sometimes also translated asJade Buddha Garden orJade Buddha Temple) is a temple complex housing one of the largestjadeBuddha statues in the world.[1] Located inAnshan,Liaoning Province, the complex covers 22,104 square metres (237,930 sq ft). It is situated besideDongshan Scenic Reserve.[2]
The statue was sculpted from a piece of jade 7.95 metres (26.1 ft) high, 6.88 metres (22.6 ft) wide, 4.10 metres (13.5 ft) thick, weighing 260.76 tonnes (574,900 lb).[3] The front of the stone has been carved with an image ofSakyamuni (a.k.a. Gautama) Buddha. On the back of the stoneGuanyin (a.k.a.Avalokitesvara) Buddha has been carved. The jade stone was found on 22 July 1960 inXiuyan County of Anshan which is known as the "hometown of jade" (Xiuyan jade is not really jade, butSerpentinite)[citation needed]. It was declared a treasure of the State and listed as a protected property by Chinese PremierZhou Enlai. Anshan city government commissioned the carving which took a team of 120 sculptors 18 months to complete. The temple complex was opened on 3 September 1996. The building that houses the jade Buddha statue is 33 metres (108 ft) tall, representing the 33 layers of heaven in Buddhism. It claims to be one the tallest buildings of ancient Chinese architectural style in China.[4]
