Archaeologists says statues unearthed at Cambodia’s Angkor Wat are biggest in 8 decades

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A two-metre section of a Buddha statue unearthed this week sits on blocks at the Ta Prom temple, in Siem Reap province

By Associated Press,

Updated: Friday, October 28, 2011

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Archaeologists at Cambodia’s famous Angkor Wat temple complex say they have unearthed the largest Buddhist statues there in eight decades.

Ly Vanna, an artifacts expert for the government’s Apsara Authority that oversees the site, said Thursday the two stone statues found at Ta Prohm temple were headless but the larger one if complete would stand about 10 feet (3 meters) tall. He says the statues are believed to date from the 12th century and are the biggest discovered since the 1930s.


Saurav Ray of the Indian embassy says the statues were found by workers carrying out the Archaeological Survey of India’s 10-year, $4 million restoration project. Angkor’s rehabilitation follows decades of neglect due to civil war.
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Buddha statues found in Cambodia
Thu Oct 27, 2011 7:22PM GMT
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Headless Buddha stone statue sits on blocks unearthed at the Ta Prom temple in Cambodia
Archaeologists have unearthed the largest Angkorian-era Buddha statues at the renowned Angkor Wat temple complex in South east Asian country of Cambodia.

The two headless stone statues have been discovered during the excavation at Ta Prohm temple that if they were complete, they would stand about 10 feet (3 meters) tall, Archaeologica reported.

The statues have been discovered when workers were carrying out the Archaeological Survey of India's 10-year, $ 4 million restoration project.

“The statue is incomplete, missing a large Buddha head with a naga snake fan and part of the base which found in the Hall of Dancers at the temple,” described the Indian Embassy First Secretary Saurav Ray.

The statues are believed to date back to the 12th century and are the biggest ones discovered since the 1930s, said the expert for the government's Apsara Authority that oversees the site Ly Vanna.

UNESCO Culture Program specialist Philippe Delanghe asserted that he had deployed a field officer to investigate the impressive find.