Inside the tallest statue from Japan, the Lotus Sanctuary hall

The giant Buddhist statues are always an impressive sight, but some of them are equally impressive on the inside, as I discovered some time ago when I visited the giant Daikannon statue from Sendai.

Ushiku Daibutsu, the third tallest statue in the world and the tallest from Japan, was designed inside as a four-story tower. The most interesting hall, called the "World of the Lotus Sanctuary", is located, as the name suggest, at the level of the base lotus flower. It is a large circular space which impresses its visitors with the golden light, beautiful ornaments and with more than 3000 gold Amida Buddha statues, placed on shelves rising from the floor to the ceiling.

The room is a pilgrimage destination in itself, the thousand of statues representing the infinite number of Buddha's manifestations...