The ceremony of cleaning the image of the Great Buddha of the Tôdai-ji Temple, in Japan, is performed every year.

First, before cleaning can begin, priests step on the sacred image and a ceremony of taking out the spirit of Buddha must be performed.

With the spirit safely removed, about 230 people, including priests, work in the dusting of this 16-metre giant statue. The cleaners have to climb all over Buddha to be able to polish the hands and feet and ride in baskets hung from the ceiling in order to clean its head.

The statue is the largest and the oldest bronze Buddha image in the world. It was made at the order of Emperor Shômu and completed in 752.

(fogonazos)