The Guanyin of the South Sea of Sanya is a 108-metre (354
ft) statue of the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara (better known as Guanyin in East
Asia), sited on the south coast of China's island province Hainan near the
Nanshan Temple of Sanya. The statue has three aspects; one side faces inland
and the other two face the South China Sea, to represent blessing and
protection by Guanyin of China and the whole world. One aspect depicts Guanyin
cradling a sutra in the left hand and gesturing the Vitarka Mudra with the
right, the second with her palms crossed, holding a string of prayer beads, and
the third holding a lotus. This is currently the fourth tallest statue in the
world (many of which are Buddhist statues) and the tallest statue of Guanyin in
the world.
The statue took six years to build and was enshrined on
April 24, 2005, with the participation of 108 eminent monks from various
Buddhist groups in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao and Mainland China, and tens of
thousands of pilgrims. The delegation also included monks from the Theravada
and Vajrayana traditions.
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