Bai Dinh Pagoda in the northern province of Ninh Binh not only has the tallest and heaviest bronze statue of Buddha but many other records besides.

Covering an area of around 700 hectares, the pagoda in Gia Sinh commune, Gia Vien district, Ninh Binh province will be one of the biggest pagodas in all of Southeast Asia when finished. The work of Bai Dinh Pagoda was kicked off in 2004 and will be completed in 2015.

The pagoda has the biggest bronze statue of Buddha in Vietnam, weighing 100 tons; three bronze statues representing the past, present and future weighing 50 tons each; the largest bronze 36-ton bell and 500 white-stone Arhat statues.

The Arhat statues are placed in a 1.8km long corridor. Each statue, 2-2.5m high, 2-2.5 tonnes in weight, needed one month for completion.

There are more record-breaking architectural aspects. The pagoda’s magnificent three-door gate is the biggest of its kind in Vietnam, built with 550 tonnes of iron wood. Four 13.8m-high pillars tower over the entrance, flanked by two 5.5m-high solid bronze guard statues, weighing 12 tonnes each. Around the gate are eight smaller bronze statues of Kim Cuong angels, each weighing 8 tonnes.

Some photos of the pagoda of records:

Covering an area of around 700 hectares, Bai Dinh pagoda will be one of the biggest pagodas in all of Southeast Asia when finished.

This bell-tower will host the 36-tonne bell.

The corridor of Arhat statues.

Each statue, 2-2.5m high, 2-2.5 tonnes in weight, needed one month for completion.

The 800sq.m Kwan Yin Sanctum: a wooden building with five main chambers and two side chambers.

Tucked away in the centre of the sanctum is the stunning 10m-high bronze statue of Kwan Yin with a thousand hands. When looking up at this vast piece of art, it’s not surprising to learn that the 80-tonne statue is the biggest Kwan Yin statue in Vietnam.

Two old women looking at the thousands of hands of Kwan Yin.

Kwan Yin is not alone. The building leads into Phap Chu Sanctum – an area dedicated to worshipping Lord Buddha Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism. At the heart of the building is a high platform in the central chamber where a 10m-high bronze statue of Lord Buddha sits on his lotus throne. The Centre for Vietnam Record Books recognised the 100-tonne stature as the tallest and heaviest bronze depiction of Lord Buddha in the country in 2006. The statue was born as part of a collective effort of bronze casters in Y Yen district, Nam Dinh province.