History of the Great Buddha of Kamakura

Between the years 1147-1189 a woman attendant, named Inadano came to cherish a desire to have a great image of the Buddha. She left court service in order to devote herself to raising funds for the construction of the image. A monk named Joko co-operated with her in fund raising by traveling all over the country and the construction started in 1238.

The first image was a wooden one and it was damaged by a storm. Then it was proposed that the image be made of bronze and the bronze image was completed with a hall to enshrine, but was again destroyed by a storm. Again it was re-constructed but once again it was smashed by a heavy gale in 1368. The fourth construction was also swept away by a tidal wave leaving the image exposed to the sun. Then a big earthquake came in September 1923 but it did not harm the body but destroyed its base which was repaired in 1926.