Regardless of whether or not you're religious, you can't help but feel a sense of awe when coming face to face with the grand statues that devout throughout the ages have built in honor of their deities.
And these monuments just keep getting bigger.
The Nepalese government recently unveiled the world's largest trident -- a religious statue depicting Shiva -- at a Hindu temple in Dang.
The trident is made from five different minerals, weighs more than six tons and stands 12 meters (42 feet) tall.
It joins an already impressive roster of Hindu, Buddhist and Christian statues built around the world -- including these 10 greats:
1. Lord Murugan Statue
(Selangor, Malaysia)
This statue, measuring 42 meters (137 feet) in height, is said to be the world's tallest depiction of a Hindu deity.
Fifteen skilled sculptors from India carried out construction on the Lord Murugan Statue, found outside Malaysia's famed Batu Caves.
The statue took three years to complete and the finished product -- made up of 250 tons of steel, 1,550 cubic meters of concrete and 300 liters of gold paint -- was unveiled during the annual Thaipusam festival in 2006.
Incidentally, it's just meters away from what must rank as one of the world's strangest statues -- a five-legged bull.
2. Christ of the Abyss
(Key Largo, Florida)
This 2.6 meter (8.6 foot) submerged bronze statue of Jesus Christ in Key Largo, Florida is one of three created by Italian artist Guido Galletti (the others can be found in the waters off Grenada in the Caribbean and in the Mediterranean sea near Italy).
The statue weighs 260 kilograms and is held in place with a 9-ton concrete base.
It was dropped into place in 1965 and its location, just seven meters below the surface of water, means that it's visible to swimmers as well as scuba divers.
It's also a highlight of the local glass-bottom boat tours.
John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, Key Largo, Florida
3. Tian Tan Buddha
(Hong Kong)
This enormous statue -- the world's largest seated outdoor bronze Buddha -- took 12 years to complete.
It's located next to Hong Kong's Po Lin Monastery, regarded as the territory's center of Buddhism.
Tian Tan Buddha stands 34 meters (112 feet) high, weighs 250 tons and can be seen from as far away as Macau.
Beneath the Buddha are three floors that are said to contain the remains of Shakyamuni, the sage on whose teachings Buddhism was founded.
There is also an enormous carved bell that's rung every seven minutes, symbolizing the release of 108 kinds of human vexations.
Po Lin Monastery, Ngong Ping, Lantau island, Hong Kong
4. Leshan Giant Buddha
(Sichuan, China)
This 71-meter (232 feet) stone statue was built during the Tang dynasty and can be found at the confluence of the Minjiang, Dadu and Qingyi rivers.
Construction of the Buddha, which forms part of a UNESCO-listed site, started in 713 AD, though it wasn't finished until 803.
A local Chinese monk called Haitong believed that the presence of a stone Buddha would calm the rivers it overlooked.
Funding ran out and Haitong killed himself in despair, but when a local governor decided to undertake completion of the project, Haitong's wish came true -- though not quite in the way he intended.
During construction, so much rock was removed from the cliff face and deposited in the river below that the water became shallower and easier to navigate.
Leshan Giant Buddha, Mount Emei Scenic Area, Leshan, Sichuan, China
5. Laykyun Setkyar
(Monywa, Myanmar)
Myanmar's Laykyun Setkyar is one of the largest statues in the world, with a height of 116 meters (380 feet).
Construction of the statue, which depicts the Gautama Buddha, started in 1996 and finished in 2008. There are 32 stories within the Buddha, 12 of which are dedicated to detailed descriptions of hell.
Khatakan Taung, Monywa, Myanmar
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