Tallest Statues in the World

With the unveiling of the today, there is a new name topping the list of the tallest statues in the world. The new monument stands 597 feet (182 meters) tall, overtaking the previous record holder, the 420-foot (128-meter) Spring Temple Buddha, in China’s Lushan County. Using Wikipedia’s standard of measuring to “the highest part of the human (or animal) figure, but excluding the height of any pedestal,” we present images below of the tallest statues in the world as of today, plus five bonus photos of some more famous—if smaller—colossal monuments.

Stairs lead up to the 420-foot (128-meter) Spring Temple Buddha statue, now the second tallest in the world. The statue stands near the town of Zhaocun, in Lushan County, Henan, China, and was completed in 2008.

Laykyun Sekkya, in Khatakan Taung, Myanmar, a statue of Buddha standing 380 feet (115.8 meters) tall

The Ushiku Great Buddha in Ibaraki, Japan, photographed on April 29, 2018. The 330-foot-tall (100-meter-tall) statue, completed in 1993, held the title of the world’s tallest statue for nine years, and now holds the fourth-place slot

The cityscape of Sendai, Japan, with the 330-foot-tall (100-meter-tall) Sendai Daikannon in the distance, viewed from Mount Aoba

The 325-foot-tall (99-meter-tall) Guishan Guanyin of the Thousand Hands and Eyes, photographed in Miyin Temple in Weishan, Changsha, China

The Big Buddha of Thailand at Wat Muang Temple in Ang Thong Province, Thailand. The seated figure measures 302 feet (92 meters) tall

The Big Buddha of Thailand at Wat Muang Temple in Ang Thong Province, Thailand. The seated figure measures 302 feet (92 meters) tall

An aerial photo shows the Mamayev Kurgan World memorial complex with the statue The Motherland Calls in Volgograd, Russia, on August 22, 2017. The monument, the tallest statue in Russia, stands 279 feet (85 meters) tall

the Awaji Kannon, or Heiwa Kannon, a 260-foot-tall (80-meter-tall) depiction of Guanyin, standing on Japan’s Awaji Island

The 259-foot-tall (79-meter-tall) Grand Buddha statue in Ling Shan, Jiangsu, China

The Guanyin of Nanshan, photographed on October 25, 2017, in Sanya, Hainan, China. The statue, completed in 2005, measures 256 feet (78 meters) tall

A monk walks in front of the 249-foot-tall (76-meter-tall) bronze statue of Dizang Pusa, a bodhisattva known in Mahayana Buddhism as the protector of creatures in the hell, in Mount Jiuhua, Anhui, China, in October 2017

The 249-foot-tall (76-meter-tall) Guanyin statue in Hong Kong’s Tsz Shan Monastery

And the 15th-tallest statue in the world: the Garuda Wisnu Kencana statue in Bali, measuring 246 feet (75 meters). The copper-and-steel monument of Lord Vishnu riding on the mythical bird Garuda opened in September 2018

The first of the bonus photos: Coming in at No. 29 on the list of tallest statues is the 190-foot-tall (58-meter-tall) Guan Yu statue, photographed in China’s Jingzhou city on June 7, 2018. Guan Yu was a famous general who lived about 1,800 years ago, and who has come to be revered

Monument of the African Renaissance, a 161-foot-tall (49-meter-tall) statue that sits on a volcanic hill overlooking Dakar, the capital of Senegal, photographed on September 27, 2017. Designed by the Senegalese architect Pierre Goudiaby, the monument was built by a North Korean company and completed in 2010

The Statue of Liberty in New York City only places 47th on the list of tallest statues, at 151 feet (46 meters) tall. The statue is pictured here, in front of the Empire State Building, lit in the colors of France in honor of the country’s 2018 FIFA World Cup victory on July 15, 2018