The Hill of the Buddha (Japanese: 頭大仏, Hepburn: Atama Daibutsu, "Large Buddha's Head") is a Buddhist shrine at Makomanai Takino Cemetery (Japanese: 真駒内滝野霊園) in Sapporo, Japan, designed by Japanese modernist architect Tadao Ando.[1] The shrine features a 13.5 m (44 ft) tall statue of the Buddha encircled by an artificial hill rotunda planted with 150,000 lavender plants.[2]

Hill of the Buddha
頭大仏
Map
General information
LocationMakomanai Takino Cemetery, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
OpenedDecember 2015
Design and construction
Architect(s)Tadao Ando
Reflecting pool

The design incorporated the pre-existing Buddha statue, which was sculpted circa 2000 and stood solitary. On approaching the statue, only the head sticks out from the hill, and the shrine is entered through a tunnel for a full view of the statue inside of the open rotunda.[3] The building opened in December 2015.[4][3]

References edit

  1. ^ Barba-Court, Kala (2017-09-26). "Architect Tadao Ando builds a lavender-covered hill around a Buddha sculpture". PLAIN Magazine. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  2. ^ "Tadao Ando surrounds huge buddha statue with lavender-covered mound". Dezeen. 2017-08-08. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  3. ^ a b "Vitra | The Hill of the Buddha". Vitra. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  4. ^ "Om-believable Buddha in Rings of Lavender". Hyperallergic. 2017-09-18. Retrieved 2019-02-26.

42°55′14″N 141°21′46″E / 42.92056°N 141.36275°E / 42.92056; 141.36275