Roger, this is the same Buddha as in the other close-up shot. I wonder what the specific position of the hands signifies.
This monastery is in the hills north of NYC and is primarily Japanese I think. This statue is supposed to be the largest one of Buddha in North America, or possibly even in the "Western Hemisphere". Unfortunately, there isn't anything in either this image or the close-up to set the scale. The statue is flanked, on either side and to the rear, by an "amphitheater" of several bodhisattvas (I think). You can see a small portion of that here: http://www.usefilm.com/image/239773.html
The colored objects are lamps, fairly large ones, near the base.
Is this the same Buddha as in the other photograph? I guess it must be, because those are very unusual hands for a Buddha (at least, you don't see many like that in Japan). WHat are the coloured things at the bottom? You've captured him very well. I particularly like the closeup, with its completely different mood (but I'll leave my comment here because this one hadn't got one and they both deserve it).
0 
{K:86139} 11/25/2003