Hyderabad: Great Buddha

INDIA, Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad

The statue was sculpted from a single piece of white granite and is located in the middle of Hussain Sagar Lake, an artificial lake in Hyderabad. It is the tallest stone sculpture of Sakyamuni Buddha in India and weighs 320 t. Construction of the statue started in 1985 by a team of 40 sculptors led by Ganapati Sthapati. It took two years to complete and was formally installed in 1992.
The Buddha stands on a double-lotus pedestal and wears a monastic robe covering only the left shoulder, from which stylized folds flow down in smooth waves. The right hand, with a lotus engraved in the center of the palm, is raised in abhaya (fearlessness) mudra, while the left hand grasps the end of the robe that is thrown over the shoulder.
The square platform supporting the lotus pedestal was designed to resemble the base of a stupa and consists of three tiers. The lowest is plain and unadorned, while the second is covered in reliefs depicting the Buddha’s life and the third is engraved with Dharma wheels. Lions, each facing outwards, crouch at the corners of the second and third tiers.