The world's largest Buddha statue dwarfs a visitor to Leshan, China. The 231-foot-tall (83-meter-tall) Buddha was carved from a riverside cliff in the 8th century to safeguard boaters on the treacherous waters below. The Leshan Giant Buddha (simplified Chinese: ä¹ Ã¥±±Ã¥¤§Ã¤½› ; traditional Chinese: 樂山大ä½› ; pinyin: LèshÄ n Dà fó) was built during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). It is carved out of a cliff face that lies at the confluence of the Minjiang, Dadu and Qingyi rivers in the southern part of Sichuan province in China, near the city of Leshan. The stone sculpture faces Mount Emei, with the rivers flowing below his feet. It is the largest carved stone Buddha in the world. [1] The Mount Emei Scenic Area, including Leshan Giant Buddha Scenic Area has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996. It was not damaged by the 2008 Sichuan ea...