Living Rock: Massive Monuments Sculpted in Situ
Most buildings and sculptures are made out of stone which is quarried and then taken somewhere else to be carved or used in construction. However, some are created in situ and you can probably think of a few right now. Forget the usual suspects – these lesser known places where the sculpting took place on site, give us some of the most remarkable destinations in the world.
The Giant Buddha, Leshan
China has many a Buddha dotted throughout its extraordinary landscapes but the Giant Buddha of Leshan is unique in that it was carved directly out of the cliff face – just look at the people at the feet of the statue. The sculpture, which is seventy one meters (or over three hundred feet) tall dwarfs the tourists that flock to see it. It is positioned so that it faces Mount Emei and stands at the meeting place of three rivers. Although the Government of China has promised a restoration program, the statue has suffered from the effects of pollution, particularly over the last twenty years. Fortunately, the statue was not damaged in the Sichuan earthquake of 2008.
The Church of Saint George, Lalibela
Lalibela in Ethiopia is the home of eleven churches, hewn from the rock. The most famous is that of Saint George, which was built in the thirteenth century. As demonstrable a point as you can get that Africa was not the ‘dark continent’ many suppose until the arrival of Europeans, it shows that technology there was virtually on a par with that of the western world. The site is a UNESCO world heritage center and has often been referred to as the eighth wonder of the world. Its dimensions – 25 times 25 times 30 give it is rectangular shape.
Somapura Mahavihara, Parhapur
Bangladesh has a long and vibrant history and is dotted with religious sites that simply take the breath away. Among them is the Somapura Mahavihara, which was a Buddhist monastery (otherwise known as a vihara). It is thought that it was carved at the end of the eight century CE. The site covers twenty seven acres and was an important academic center for people of three religions (showing that we can all get along when we have to, surely). You could think of it as a kind of contemplative university. Monks from as far afield as Tibet regularly visited it in its heyday.
Crazy Horse Memorial, South Dakota
Although the USA is a comparative newcomer to massive sculptures which have been carved in situ, Mount Rushmore is among the most famous statues in the world and will no doubt withstand the millennia as it was designed to do. When finished, however, the Crazy Horse Memorial should be the largest sculpture in the world and stand over one hundred and seventy two meters (that’s five hundred and sixty three feet). In other words, it will be almost ten times taller than each of the Presidents’ heads at Rushmore. Started in 1948, it remains unfinished and there is no date which has been fixed for its completion either. The face, however, was completed in 1998.
Naqsh-e Rustam, Persepolis
Iran is not exactly out of bounds to western tourists but is not as such in the top fifty destinations. This is a shame as the country holds some astonishing archaeological secrets. One of these is the Naqsh-e Rustam, dating from the sixth century BCE. They are all carved at great heights and the technology and manpower needed for such tasks must have been unimaginable then as they are still astonishing today. They are known as the Persian Crosses by local people as the facades are carved in such a shape. The center of each of the crosses leads to a small chamber where the king would have been laid in a sarcophagus.
The Ajanta Caves, Maharashtra
Built in the second century BCE, it could be joked that these caves were created while most of the population of Europe was simply living in them; these are one of the masterpieces of pictorial art. For many centuries these temples were built under the rule of Hindu Kings, many of whom contributed to their construction.
Image via Wikipedia
They were built in a horseshoe shape, keeping the lines of the ravine from which they were hewn. If you think that this counts as a cave system rather than a sculpture, you may be right from the outside. Take a look at the inside though. If that isn’t sculpture, what is?
Decebalus, Orsova
The world never stands still and gigantic sculptures are still being teased from the rock. The former communist country of Romania is no exception and here they have chosen to honor Decebalus. Translating as “The Brave One” was a king of the Dacians and fought many a war against the Roman Empire. It is thought that the far more famous Spartacus was himself a Dacian, so you know now how tough these people were! The historian Iosif Constantin Drăgan funded twelve sculptors to the tune of over a million dollars. After ten years of hard graft it was completed in 2004. It stands opposite an almost two thousand year old plaque commemorating Roman victories against the Dacians. How is that for unequivocal defiance millennia later?
Kailash, Ellora
Back to India and the Kailash temple is part of a complex of over thirty that cover over two kilometers. The amazing thing about this is that the temples were excavated vertically. That is, the workers started at the top and went downwards. The temple was literally exhumed from the rock face over a period of many years. Kailash was built in the eight century CE and it is believed that two hundred thousand tones of rock were removed during its construction. It is a traditional temple to Shiva in most other respects but stands proud as the biggest monolithic temple in the world.
Mada’in Saleh, Hejaz
Again, not exactly on the tourist map of many, Saudi Arabia had its first UNESCO World Heritage Site announced in 2008. This is the ancient city known as Negra. Some of the inscriptions found here date back almost three thousand years. It is mentioned many times in Quran. However, this site comes with a warning sign. Many Saudi Arabians consider the place to be cursed and although the government encourages tourism here many of the local people will not go and advise visitors not to either. To quite from the holy book, “So the earthquake seized them, and they lay (dead), prostrate in their homes.”
Note from author. There are many, much better known, places I could have chose to write about here, the most obvious being Mount Rushmore and a variety of monuments in Egypt. However, I felt that these had been somewhat overdone, in whichever medium you care to name. These sites, I thought, were lesser known and so deserved attention.
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82 Comments
Anne McNew, posted this comment on May 4th, 2009
Those are wonderful sites RJ, It’s my first time to have seen photos of those beautiful places in some parts of the world.
thanks for sharing this knowledge.
thestickman, posted this comment on May 4th, 2009
nice
Mark Gordon Brown, posted this comment on May 4th, 2009
RJ you are making me itchy to travel.
Mischa M., posted this comment on May 4th, 2009
I’m betting these monuments are quite overwhelming in person. Another great article! Good job!
B Nelson, posted this comment on May 4th, 2009
I am pretty sure I saw that Ethiopian Church on The Amazing Race, TV show a few seasons back – it was pretty cool for sure.
Amazing thought goes into creating something like these.
C Jordan, posted this comment on May 4th, 2009
Thanks for an interesting world tour RJ.
Jo Oliver, posted this comment on May 4th, 2009
Yes, I agree that some other sites have been overly exposed. These are equally amazing and deserve the attention. wonderfully done.
Mark Bentley, posted this comment on May 4th, 2009
Wow, those are some really amazing sites. Loved it!
Glynis Smy, posted this comment on May 4th, 2009
That was interesting, amazing pictures, they show how dedicated the craftsmen were. I had not heard of the majority of these places.
Bill M. Tracer, posted this comment on May 4th, 2009
Thanks for some attention to these lesser known sites.
Joe Dorish, posted this comment on May 4th, 2009
Great sites! Been to Crazy Horse and it’s pretty big but I doubt they will ever finish it. Would like to see all of them.
Juancav, posted this comment on May 4th, 2009
Fabulous places,I´d never seen some of these,great article.
Jo Oliver, posted this comment on May 4th, 2009
amazing. my fav is Orsova
twopenneth, posted this comment on May 5th, 2009
sheer talent of those who created these amazing sculptures. thanks for sharing rj
Christine Ramsay, posted this comment on May 5th, 2009
Those are amazing. They are all new to me. They must have taken many years to complete, looking at the size of them. A great article.
Christine
Betty Carew, posted this comment on May 5th, 2009
These are absolutely awesome RJ I love them I haven’t seen these before. Thank you for sharing this. Excellent article RJ
Judy T Lloyd, posted this comment on May 5th, 2009
You always present the most interesting places.
Bo Jack Russo, posted this comment on May 5th, 2009
I liked the giant Buudah the best.
deep blue, posted this comment on May 6th, 2009
Marvelous piece RJ. You give me lots of ideas to be inspired and write about.Best regards.
helios2014
Nosa, posted this comment on May 6th, 2009
Wow! Most incredible article with the most fascinating pictures ever.I love each and every picture.Its incredible…The history,culture…everything.Just superb!!!!
Anne Lyken Garner, posted this comment on May 6th, 2009
These are truly fascinating. It’s wondrous how these places have been built – and with limited tools as well.
MadMolecule, posted this comment on May 6th, 2009
“The sculpture, which is seventy one meters (or over three hundred feet) tall…”
71 meters is about 230 feet. Still mighty impressive, though.
Martin, posted this comment on May 6th, 2009
What about Petra?!?
Shannon, posted this comment on May 6th, 2009
Great list!
See also: Buddhas of Bamyan (mostly destroyed by the Taliban)
Shannon, posted this comment on May 6th, 2009
Oops, HTML link was stripped.
See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhas_of_Bamyan
dunn, posted this comment on May 7th, 2009
Shannon, I was just going to make the same comment. The Buddhas of Bamyan would have made a nice addendum.
tito, posted this comment on May 8th, 2009
vaya merda de pedras yo m las fumaba
alfrhnsby, posted this comment on May 8th, 2009
ohhhh…! nice
Momma Tells, posted this comment on May 9th, 2009
My gracious…those are awesome rock figures. Incredible.
swatilohani, posted this comment on May 9th, 2009
highly informative
spj, posted this comment on May 9th, 2009
RJ,Thank you very much for sharing these monumental in situ rock carvings on the net.Thoroughly enjoyable and informative.
J3llyb3an, posted this comment on May 9th, 2009
this is really pretty.. i never saw any of these places before definitely want to go travel now..
Adam Danz, posted this comment on May 11th, 2009
this Rocks!
R J Evans, posted this comment on May 11th, 2009
Ah! Adam! If only I had thought of that as a title for the article!
john, posted this comment on May 11th, 2009
cool places,i would love to go see then all!
Lawrence Overstreet, posted this comment on May 11th, 2009
Where’s Mt. Rushmore?
theoldercoot, India, posted this comment on May 11th, 2009
Great places to visit, those ancestors sure worked hard, over many years, to create all this and more. Visit India, guys; come in winter when it is pleasant, our summers tend to be rather hot.
Fred Martinez, posted this comment on May 11th, 2009
Thanks for showcasing these wonders.
greg, posted this comment on May 11th, 2009
i haven’t read through all the comments, however, i wonder if you mentioned the meditation hall in Karli…during the Mauryan dynasty, carved out of solid rock for visiting buddhist monks, during the last millenium BC. There is also the 175 foot tall buddha in Afhanistan, carved and gilded, later destroyed by Moslems. I also like to add that the churches built in Ethiopia are not as is noted, “Its dimensions – 25 times 25 times 30 give it is rectangular shape”, not rectangular at all, but are actually carved into the shape of a Greek Cross…again all carved out of solid rock.
Kathy Omo, posted this comment on May 11th, 2009
There just breath taking. I just wish there were more to see.
bigfoot, posted this comment on May 11th, 2009
Mt. Rushmore is in western South Dakota, I have been to the top of Crazy Horse
Migel Valadez, posted this comment on May 11th, 2009
Seems they could have been enhanced with a little paint.
They still could.
Sheila Anderson , posted this comment on May 11th, 2009
It so hard to imagine all the time and work that went into these breath taking works of art.
Dan Jones, posted this comment on May 11th, 2009
Great works and beautiful to behold. There is something that troubles me and that is we are inclined to embrace monuments like these that were built with slave labor and little or no pay. I personally can not rejoice for things created by abusing mankind.
Rich, posted this comment on May 11th, 2009
The giant Buddha: “The sculpture, which is seventy one meters (or over three hundred feet)…”
Seventy one meters is 233 feet, not over 300 ft…
Rich.
kendelmar, posted this comment on May 11th, 2009
Tres Bon!
Mike, posted this comment on May 11th, 2009
See what the human talents and HARD work can accomplish when there is no TV or other so called electronic gadgets to side-track the thoughts and mentality of the human spirit? I’m afraid the age of stone sculpture as has been pictured is over and maybe even the age of art as we use to know it. Unless all of the satellites are knocked out by some natural (or unnatural) cause, we are doomed to have these gadgets make up our minds and do the thinking for us!
Alice, posted this comment on May 11th, 2009
Hard to find a more descriptive word than AWESOME. I was filled with AWE.
buddy79926, posted this comment on May 11th, 2009
Thanks for showing me places that I had never heard of and will never get to see. It’s awesome what some people have created. Wonderful article.
Joanne , posted this comment on May 11th, 2009
I have been fortunate to have visited five of these incredible sites. Now I long to go to Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Lee Rahn, posted this comment on May 11th, 2009
I’ve been to the city of Petra and was awed by the concept of building a city out of solid rock. Now you show me even more. Amazing. Good presentation. Thank you.
Aloha, posted this comment on May 11th, 2009
As an asian person studying asian art history I am so thrilled that you have shared these sites!!!
PTAire, posted this comment on May 11th, 2009
Hey Larry, What re you thinking…or NOT. These places are ancient history. Mt. Rushmore can’t hold a candle to them.
mill3r, posted this comment on May 11th, 2009
True that. Its like deja vu, all over again.
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Paula, posted this comment on May 11th, 2009
What about Stone Mountain? That’s pretty impressive.
Carol, posted this comment on May 11th, 2009
For those of us who will never have a chance to go – what a treat to have this lovely internet world to send us around the world to view and make new friends (we hope). What a joy to see. I’m a granny but, so enjoy ‘getting out’ even if it is electronically! Thank you so much!
"Stonewall" Jackson, posted this comment on May 11th, 2009
How about Stone Mountain in Georgia? Magnificent!
Pete, posted this comment on May 11th, 2009
Poor Dan Jones. Crying over events that happened thousands of years ago. Give us a break.
I always wondered what kinds of chisels were used and how hard the metal was. It took a lot of hammers, too.
Sal Porta, posted this comment on May 11th, 2009
I saw Ceazy Hourse, it is about time that the American Indian will be honored by the people who took away a wonderful way of life.
John Galt, posted this comment on May 12th, 2009
HUMAN ENERGY … amazing how it sometimes gets channeled. Yet I prefer to see it channeled this way than into catapults, AK47s, trebuchets, Sherman tanks, mangonels, cruise missiles, or onagers.
Kim Warner, posted this comment on May 12th, 2009
Those are are all good, but I am very disappointed that Mt. Rushmore was not listed.
sophiemarie, posted this comment on May 12th, 2009
Great article, thanks for sharing 
kstephenson, posted this comment on May 12th, 2009
I’m with you, “Stonewall”. They do need to post the sculpture at Stone Mountain! It’s amazing! Especially when they have the “lazer show” at the mountain at night time.
fahrusha, posted this comment on May 12th, 2009
Fascinating collection of stone places. I like to see all of them up close. Thanks.
manya, posted this comment on May 13th, 2009
A very impressive list which immediately caught my attention. The details of these places and pics make for a very stimulating read.
-manya
Silviu9090, posted this comment on May 13th, 2009
I love the Decebalus Sculpture.
ash-mash97, posted this comment on May 13th, 2009
My favorite one is the church!
lewis, posted this comment on May 13th, 2009
That is sooo cool!
Morgan, posted this comment on May 13th, 2009
those pictures are so wicked
soccer_jaz, posted this comment on May 13th, 2009
I luv them all
keper101, posted this comment on May 13th, 2009
i love the one with the mans weird face
kingfred, posted this comment on May 13th, 2009
without your pics I never would have seen these sites…thank you…
Jacey, posted this comment on May 14th, 2009
Breathtaking beauty….would be awesome to actually see these in person. Wonder why Ghost Hunters haven’t been to some of these places.
Cameron, posted this comment on May 16th, 2009
Actually there was less of the slave labor going on here than you might imagine. A lot of these works were voluntary religious works with time donated and government funded paying jobs.
Ken, posted this comment on May 16th, 2009
This site rocks!
Comment about Sal’s comment. What makes you think it was a wonderful way of life. Reality was that it was a hard way of life and survival was never guaranteed.
Pancho Manuel Juan Villa, posted this comment on May 16th, 2009
Thauthor has presented good pictures and discriptions of these sites however, failed to indicate the type of stratum from which they were carved.
As a Geologist visiting many of these sites and more, I can assure one, that many are fashioned from lime or sand stone an easily worked material. Primitive tools of wood or stone could have been used to eke out these structures making it not as laborious to construct as one may think. Example: refer to photos, Church of St. George and notice the smoothness of the architecture made of soft stone in the 13th century against the photo of Decebalus carved of hard rock in recent times using modern tools and note the difference in texture due to the hardness of the stone.
The ancients were\’nt naive, their intelligence told them to choose the most easily workable material available.
Respectfully,
Pancho Manuel Juan Villae
CutestPrincess, posted this comment on May 24th, 2009
They sound like interesting places and the pics are beautiful.
GARYJ, posted this comment on May 26th, 2009
Thank you for sharing !
garyngi
keper101@gmail.com, posted this comment on May 27th, 2009
how do people make these rocks cause i would love for someone to make a rock in the shape of me. plus it really makes me want to write a five page paper on those rocks.
bcpbev@yahoo.com, posted this comment on May 28th, 2009
Wow! I’m saving this e-mail. What incredible places our earth holds. I need to read this a few times to grasp the greatness of it all. Thanks, Bev
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JK Kristie, posted this comment on May 4th, 2009
I have never heard any of these monuments before, RJ. Thanks for bringing it out for the whole world to see.