The World’s Tallest Statues

1. Statue of Unity

The tallest statue in the world is the Statue of Unity, a statue of Vallabhbhai Patel that stands 597 feet (182 meters) tall and is located in the state of Gujarat, India. Including the base, it reaches 787 feet (240 meters) high. Vallabhbhai Patel was a leader of the Indian Independence Movement and worked assiduously for the unification of India during its journey toward independence from British colonial rule. He was known as the “Iron Man of India,” and the statue is partially constructed of iron from recycled tools collected from farmers across India. The Statue of Unity is located on a small island in the Narmada River near Ekta Nagar, or Unity Town (previously known as Kevadia). It was inaugurated on October 31, 2018, Patel’s 143rd birth anniversary, at which time it became the world’s tallest statue.

2. Spring Temple Buddha

Before the Statue of Unity was constructed in India, the title of world’s tallest statue was held by the Spring Temple Buddha, located in Zhaocun, Lushan county, Henan province, China. The statue itself is 420 feet (128 meters) tall, and including the lotus pedestal it reaches a height of 502 feet (153 meters). The colossal Buddha—built of steel, copper alloy, and gold—was constructed between 1997 and 2008. The figure depicted is Vairochana Buddha. In Mahayana and Tibetan Buddhism, there are more buddhas than just the single historical Buddha (Gautama or Shakyamuni Buddha), and Vairochana is considered to be the supreme and cosmic form of the Buddha, of which the others are emanations. The left hand pointing down, palm out, displays the varadamudra (giving gesture, a kind of mudra). The right hand, raised with thumb and middle finger touching, is a form of the vitarkamudra (teaching gesture), which can indicate compassion.

The Buddha has long been a prominent figure depicted in tall statues, and even now Buddha statues comprise half the present list of top ten tallest statues. The Leshan Giant Buddha, built in the 8th century, is 233 feet (71 meters) tall and is the tallest stone Buddha statue. The two Bamiyan Buddha statues in Afghanistan, also made of stone, were created about the 6th century ce and towered 180 feet (55 meters) and 125 feet (38 meters) high, but were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001.

3. Laykyun Sekkya

A colossal statue of the Buddha located in Myanmar is part of a complex that includes one upright and one reclining statue of the Buddha. The tallest Buddha statue stands 381 feet (116 meters) and is perched atop a pedestal of 44 feet (13.5 meters). In front of the taller statue is another giant statue depicting the Buddha reclining, which portrays the Buddha’s physical death (parinirvana). The two statues are cloaked in robes of gold, and they face the Aung Sakkya Pagoda in Khatakan Taung near Monywa, Myanmar. They were completed in 2008 after 12 years of construction.

4. Vishwas Swaroopam

A tall statue of Shiva, one of the most prominent of the Hindu gods, stands 369 feet (112 meters) tall in the town of Nathdwara in Rajasthan, India. Some sources, however, give a height of 348 feet (106 meters). It is called Vishwas Swaroopam, a Sanskrit-derived name meaning the Statue of Belief. The statue of Shiva was completed in 2022 after 10 years of construction. It is finished with copper that gives the god a reddish-orange hue, and it depicts him seated on a pedestal of 111 feet (34 meters) while holding a trishul (trident). The fact that he is seated on a pedestal that is nearly one-third the total height, with only his right foot reaching toward the ground, raises a question about whether the statue can be considered fully freestanding.

5. Ushiku Daibutsu

The Ushiku Daibutsu in Japan rises 330 feet (100 meters) in Ushiku City, Ibaraki prefecture. Made of bronze, it stands atop a pedestal of 66 feet (20 meters). It was built in 1993. The statue depicts Amida Buddha, the Japanese name for Amitabha Buddha, a savior buddha who is a key figure in Pure Land Buddhism. The statue’s overall 120-meter height is a reference to the 12 rays of light of Amida Buddha according to Pure Land Buddhism. In addition to an observation deck at 278 feet (85 meters), the construction includes rooms for Buddhist meditation and calligraphy and a collection of Buddhist relics.

6. Sendai Daikannon

The Sendai Daikannon statue of Nyoirin Kannon is 302 feet (92 meters) tall and, including the base, 328 feet (100 meters) tall. The statue is located in Sendai in the Tōhoku region of northern Honshu, Japan. When completed in 1991 the statue took the crown of world’s tallest statue from a fellow Japanese Kannon statue in Ashibetsu that had been constructed in 1989 (see below). Kannon is the Japanese and female form of the bodhisattva of compassion Avalokiteshvara (who is called Guanyin in China). Nyoirin Kannon holds a chintamani jewel in her hand, with which this specific form of Kannon is thought to grant wishes. She is also called Byakue Kannon, in reference to her white robe, which is also the name of a similar tall Kannon in Takasaki that is 137 feet (41 meters) tall.

7. Great Buddha of Thailand

This golden figure of the Buddha in Wat Muang Temple, Ang Thong province, Thailand, measures 302 feet (92 meters) tall and 206 feet (63 meters) wide. Some Thai sources give a height of 312 feet (95 meters). It is often called the Great Buddha of Thailand, although its official name in Thai is Phra Phuttha Maha Nawamin Sakayamuni Si Wiset Chai Chan. Completed in 2008 it depicts the Buddha in his posture of Maravijaya, or the bhumisparshamudra (“earth-touching gesture”). This symbolizes the Buddha’s appeal to the earth to be a witness of his enlightenment and of his defeat of the demon Mara. The statue was built in honor of the Thai king Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX).

8. Daikannon of Kita no Miyako Park

This statue of Kannon is 289 feet (88 meters) tall and is located in Kita no Miyako Park, Ashibetsu, Hokkaido, Japan. Upon its construction in 1989, it was the world’s tallest statue, but it was superseded in that title in 1991 with the construction of a sister Kannon statue in Sendai (see above). This white-robed Kannon in Ashibetsu did not succeed as a tourist draw, and although it is now owned by a religious organization, it remains largely abandoned.

9. The Motherland Calls

The sole entry on this list outside of eastern or southern Asia is the statue The Motherland Calls, located in Volgograd, Russia (formerly Stalingrad). The measurement from the bottom of her feet on the pedestal to the tip of her sword is 280 feet (85 meters), although the figure herself is 172 feet (52 meters) tall. It was completed in 1967. This statue commemorates the Battle of Stalingrad (July 17, 1942–February 2, 1943), in which the Soviet defenses successfully protected the city during World War II. The woman represents Mother Russia. The fact that her sword adds significantly to the height, however, raises questions about her place in the list.

10. Grand Buddha of Lingshan

Rounding out this top-ten list (for now) is the Grand Buddha of Lingshan, a statue of the Buddha that stands 259 feet (79 meters) tall atop a 29-foot (9-meter) lotus pedestal. The bronze statue of Shakyamuni Buddha was finished in 1997 and is located in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, China, in a sacred scenic area said to have been established by the 7th-century monk Xuanzang. The right hand of the Buddha pointing up, palm out, displays the abhayamudra (“fearless gesture”) and the left hand pointing down, palm out, displays the varadamudra (“giving gesture”).

Tallest statue locations

Honorable mentions

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There are a few tall statues that are sometimes found interspersed with the listed tallest statues above but do not meet our criteria of figurative freestanding statues whose height measurement excludes the base and topography. An extreme example would be Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: the statue itself is only 98 feet (30 meters) tall, but it sits atop the 2,310-foot (704-meter) Mount Corcovado.

There are two statues of Guanyin in China that come close to being on the list. The Guanyin of Nanshan, on a small island in the South China Sea just off the shore near Sanya, Hainan province, is 354 feet (108 meters) tall, but the height of the base is unclear, with some reports listing it as 30 meters. The Thousand Eye Thousand Arm Guishan Guanyin in Ningxiang, Hunan province, is reported to be 325 feet (99.19 meters) tall, but no reliable sources indicate the height of the base.

Another tall but borderline construction is the Mother of All Asia statue of the Virgin Mary in Batangas, Philippines. The body of the statue is 255 feet (77.6 meters), and it sits atop a base structure of 67 feet (20.5 meters) high, rising to 322 feet (98 meters). Since the statue is also an inhabitable structure, and the statue is comparatively more abstract (it lacks defined legs and feet), the border between base and the main structure is more ambiguous than in typical statues with a clearer human figure on a pedestal. Presumably humans will continue to build ever larger anthropomorphic structures, and they will push the boundaries of what constitutes a tall statue.