kelledia:  Fifth-century Aukana Buddha, Sri Lanka. The Buddha is 12m high (though it appears much, much taller) and is completely carved from the rock behind it, as is the case at Gal Vihara. But this Buddha is taller than those at Gal Vihara, and the work that went into it must have been immense. It is in extraordinary condition (the last chiseling could have been done the morning we saw it), which is truly amazing considering it is more than 1500 years old and has never been shielded from the elements by a roof or covering of any sort. This Buddha has risen in importance in the last seven or eight years after the unforgivable destruction of the twin Buddha statues (which were similar in design but much larger) in Bamiyan, Afghanistan by the Taliban.
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