Sunken 600-Year-Old Statue Of Buddha Recently Emerges From The Water In East China

First Posted: Jan 17, 2017 04:10 AM EST

A statue of 600-year-old Buddha statue has been discovered in a reservoir in Jiangxi Province in east China. It shows after the water levels lower during the renovation work.

The official state news agency, Xinhua, reported that a local villager first saw the head of the Buddha last month. It is when the water fell by more than 10 meters during the work on a hydropower gate. The head of Buddha sits against a cliff and gazes serenely over the body of water. Thus, it has attracted tourists and locals. They said that it as an auspicious sign.

The archaeologists shared that the statue if Buddha could date back to Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The director of the Research Institute of Archeology of Jiangxi province, Xu Changqing, told CNN that, "A preliminary study of the statue suggests it was probably built during the early Ming Dynasty, maybe even earlier as the Yuan Dynasty."

CNN reported that the statue has been potentially just the tip of an untapped archaeological treasure trove. The base of the temple hall was also under the water. The local records suggest that the reservoir was located at the ruins of an ancient town called Xiaoshi.

A local villager first spotted the head of the Buddha when the water level fell by more than 10 meters: https://t.co/fhYECVNAHg

— CNN Travel (@CNNTravel) January 16, 2017

Xu said that an underwater archaeology team is investigating both the ancient town and the statue, and preservation plan is being worked on. Xu added that, "Being submerged in water could have preserved the statue, which features surprisingly detailed carving.If the statue wasn't preserved in the water, it could have suffered weathering, oxidation or other risks, we reckon," according to Travel Pulse.

Meanwhile, many of the cultural relics were destroyed during the country's Cultural Revolution in the 1960s, when people were told to get rid of everything old, Feudalistic and Superstitious. The statue measures around 12.5 feet or 3.8 meters tall and was carved into the cliff.