There's a blind desire, there's a drive, there's a need to leave some lasting feat
June 19, 2007 6:14 AM Subscribe
Serious question here: why are so many of the tallest monuments Buddhas? Is there something about Buddhism that encourages the creation of larger-than-life statues?
posted by Pater Aletheias at 6:28 AM on June 19, 2007
posted by Pater Aletheias at 6:28 AM on June 19, 2007
I guess they mean "ten tallest monuments that are statues of human-form". Since, for example, the Washington Monument, at 555 feet (169 meters), is taller than any of those featured on that page. And I wouldn't be surprised if there are others also taller.
posted by skynxnex at 6:30 AM on June 19, 2007 [2 favorites]
posted by skynxnex at 6:30 AM on June 19, 2007 [2 favorites]
Very cool post Wolfdog.
A lot of those statutes (especially the first) look inspired by the Soviet Era, but I am a bit surprised to not find any monument to Lenin or Stalin or Mao amongst the top ten.
I mean no statute of North Korea's Great Leader (Kim Il Jong) amongst the top ten? I expected Him to be tops and he's not even on the list. Shame, shame, shame.
posted by three blind mice at 6:35 AM on June 19, 2007
A lot of those statutes (especially the first) look inspired by the Soviet Era, but I am a bit surprised to not find any monument to Lenin or Stalin or Mao amongst the top ten.
I mean no statute of North Korea's Great Leader (Kim Il Jong) amongst the top ten? I expected Him to be tops and he's not even on the list. Shame, shame, shame.
posted by three blind mice at 6:35 AM on June 19, 2007
He's not very tall.
posted by Wolfdog at 6:36 AM on June 19, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by Wolfdog at 6:36 AM on June 19, 2007 [1 favorite]
Yeah, the Washington monument and Mount Rushmore got hosed. What is on there is pretty spectacular, though.
posted by BobbyDigital at 6:45 AM on June 19, 2007
posted by BobbyDigital at 6:45 AM on June 19, 2007
The Crazy Horse Monument will be 172 metres when completed, although when that will be, I have no idea.
The faces on Mount Rushmore are only 18 metres tall, so they just weren't big enough to make the list.
posted by teg at 6:48 AM on June 19, 2007
The faces on Mount Rushmore are only 18 metres tall, so they just weren't big enough to make the list.
posted by teg at 6:48 AM on June 19, 2007
He's not very tall.
But he was Great Leader?
In statues size is everything you know. I just expected more from the DPRK. Can it be that the North Koreans by their failure to constuct a statute reflecting Great Leader's greatness are admitting that maybe he wasn't so great?
posted by three blind mice at 6:55 AM on June 19, 2007
But he was Great Leader?
In statues size is everything you know. I just expected more from the DPRK. Can it be that the North Koreans by their failure to constuct a statute reflecting Great Leader's greatness are admitting that maybe he wasn't so great?
posted by three blind mice at 6:55 AM on June 19, 2007
A lot of those statutes (especially the first) look inspired by the Soviet Era, but I am a bit surprised to not find any monument to Lenin or Stalin or Mao amongst the top ten.
I can't speak for the others, but the largest Stalin statue was only 50 meters high, and located in Prague. It's lifespan was pretty damn short, though, due to the political situation when it was being planned and built.
posted by piratebowling at 6:57 AM on June 19, 2007
I can't speak for the others, but the largest Stalin statue was only 50 meters high, and located in Prague. It's lifespan was pretty damn short, though, due to the political situation when it was being planned and built.
posted by piratebowling at 6:57 AM on June 19, 2007
"Blind desire", "drive", "tallest monument"
Why do I get the feeling this post was sponsored by Pfizer?
posted by DU at 6:57 AM on June 19, 2007
Why do I get the feeling this post was sponsored by Pfizer?
posted by DU at 6:57 AM on June 19, 2007
Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
`My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
posted by Tasanova at 6:58 AM on June 19, 2007 [1 favorite]
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
`My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
posted by Tasanova at 6:58 AM on June 19, 2007 [1 favorite]
Sorry, I meant to follow up but forgot...50 meters meant Stalin would have placed 10 and bumped Christ the redeemer, if Stalin had survived.
posted by piratebowling at 6:59 AM on June 19, 2007
posted by piratebowling at 6:59 AM on June 19, 2007
A lot of those statutes (especially the first) look inspired by the Soviet Era
three blind mice
The statue of Buddha in Ushiku, Japan was inspired by the Soviet Era?
posted by Sangermaine at 7:20 AM on June 19, 2007
three blind mice
The statue of Buddha in Ushiku, Japan was inspired by the Soviet Era?
posted by Sangermaine at 7:20 AM on June 19, 2007
Wait, does this list have anything to do with altitude? teg's comment would seem to indicate that it doesn't, but a lot of these seem to be on mountains or hills. Could that be what they mean by "highest?"
And how do these compare to the Colossus of Rhodes?
posted by hifiparasol at 8:15 AM on June 19, 2007
And how do these compare to the Colossus of Rhodes?
posted by hifiparasol at 8:15 AM on June 19, 2007
The Peter the Great statue is intensely ugly, and it's despised by everyone in Moscow. Some years ago some terrorist group was discovered plotting to blow the statue up with dynamite. Everyone was so disappointed when they were busted.
Tseriteli, the sculptor, is friends with a bunch of Russian powerholders (Luzhkov, for instance--the mayor of Moscow), which explains why his disgusting monumental excreta pollute so much of the Russian landscape.
posted by nasreddin at 8:15 AM on June 19, 2007 [1 favorite]
Tseriteli, the sculptor, is friends with a bunch of Russian powerholders (Luzhkov, for instance--the mayor of Moscow), which explains why his disgusting monumental excreta pollute so much of the Russian landscape.
posted by nasreddin at 8:15 AM on June 19, 2007 [1 favorite]
The statues of Yandi and Huangdi (Fire Emperor and Yellow Emperor) were built in the nineties, I guess. The only thing I've been able to find is a short article referring to a Fire and Yellow Emperor cult that uses the place. Anybody else know anything?
posted by atchafalaya at 8:17 AM on June 19, 2007
posted by atchafalaya at 8:17 AM on June 19, 2007
Peter the Great was Scottish?
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 8:18 AM on June 19, 2007
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 8:18 AM on June 19, 2007
Nowhere near as big but very cool, the Angel of the North.
Been up the Leshan Buddha; his hair is especially curled to allow water to drain away apparently.
posted by Abiezer at 8:22 AM on June 19, 2007
Been up the Leshan Buddha; his hair is especially curled to allow water to drain away apparently.
posted by Abiezer at 8:22 AM on June 19, 2007
Peter the Great could have used a bigger boat . . . guess that's why he didn't make it out of the Baltic.
posted by Heywood Mogroot at 8:31 AM on June 19, 2007
posted by Heywood Mogroot at 8:31 AM on June 19, 2007
Wait, does this list have anything to do with altitude? teg's comment would seem to indicate that it doesn't, but a lot of these seem to be on mountains or hills. Could that be what they mean by "highest?"
I very much doubt it's meant to be a list based on altitude because: 1) Several of them, including the Statue of Liberty, are more or less at sea-level and 2) the only mention of altitude I could find is in the description of Christ the Redeemer, which is last on the list. Every single one has the height of the monument in question listed.
posted by skynxnex at 8:53 AM on June 19, 2007
I very much doubt it's meant to be a list based on altitude because: 1) Several of them, including the Statue of Liberty, are more or less at sea-level and 2) the only mention of altitude I could find is in the description of Christ the Redeemer, which is last on the list. Every single one has the height of the monument in question listed.
posted by skynxnex at 8:53 AM on June 19, 2007
No, not every single one:
statue of Peter I on the bank of the Moskva River is one of the tallest outdoor sculptures in the world.
Liberty Enlightening the World, known more commonly as the Statue of Liberty, is a colossal statue given to the United States by France in 1886, standing at Liberty Island, New York in the mouth of the Hudson River in New York Harbor as a welcome to all visitors, immigrants, and returning Americans.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 12:28 PM on June 19, 2007
statue of Peter I on the bank of the Moskva River is one of the tallest outdoor sculptures in the world.
Liberty Enlightening the World, known more commonly as the Statue of Liberty, is a colossal statue given to the United States by France in 1886, standing at Liberty Island, New York in the mouth of the Hudson River in New York Harbor as a welcome to all visitors, immigrants, and returning Americans.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 12:28 PM on June 19, 2007
The Texas independance San Jacinto Monument is fifteen feet taller than the Washington Monument, just as the Texas State Capitol dome in Austin is fifteen feet taller than the Capitol dome in Washington D.C. It appears the list maker just really likes Buddhas.
posted by Standeck at 12:33 PM on June 19, 2007
posted by Standeck at 12:33 PM on June 19, 2007
I think the distinction is more that they were looking for cast or carved things rather than masonry.
posted by Wolfdog at 12:37 PM on June 19, 2007
posted by Wolfdog at 12:37 PM on June 19, 2007
Nice use of Ozymandias. I had a teacher in high school who required us to memorize that.
posted by A-Train at 3:43 PM on June 19, 2007
posted by A-Train at 3:43 PM on June 19, 2007
hifiparasol: Sources seem to agree that the Colossus stood 70 cubits tall, approx. 30 meters (or about the height of Christ the Redeemer, #10 on the list).
posted by rob511 at 4:01 PM on June 19, 2007
posted by rob511 at 4:01 PM on June 19, 2007
The story I heard about the Peter the Great statue was that it was initially supposed to be Christopher Columbus and was to be presented to the USA as a gift, they didn't want it so they knocked the head off and stuck Peter the Great's on instead.
posted by TheCassiniDivision at 4:32 PM on June 19, 2007
posted by TheCassiniDivision at 4:32 PM on June 19, 2007
The article refers to "top ten" 10 Highest Monuments in the World. Maybe it is listing the by popularity, which would explain the Buddhas?
posted by misha at 4:36 PM on June 19, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by misha at 4:36 PM on June 19, 2007 [1 favorite]
Sravanabelagola, in the Indian state of Karnataka, deserves a mention. At over 17m in height, it's not as tall as the top 10, but it is apparently the tallest (human-figure?) monument in the world to have been carved from a single stone.
posted by UbuRoivas at 6:03 PM on June 19, 2007
posted by UbuRoivas at 6:03 PM on June 19, 2007
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posted by Astro Zombie at 6:26 AM on June 19, 2007 [1 favorite]