Stone sitting Buddha sculpture unearthed in Kyauktaw Twsp

By DMG 14 May 2022

DMG Newsroom
14 May 2022, Kyauktaw 

An ancient sitting Buddha stone sculpture was unearthed near Pyuma Creek, about one mile from the village of Kyar Nat Kan in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township.  

A local found the Buddha image as he dug the ground to grow plants on Friday, the abbot of Kyar Nat Kan village told DMG.  

“The image was carved out of a single stone. For the time being, we put the image on a nearby mound for public obeisance,” said the abbot, U Sandawvasa. 

The cracked image is about 56 inches tall and nearly 24 inches wide, he said. 

“The image might have fallen down due to weather, and cracked around its waist as it fell down. For the time being, we’ve placed the image in the open air, and we will build a shrine when there are donors,” U Sandawvasa added. 

The chairwoman of the Mrauk-U Archaeological Heritage Conservation Committee, Daw Khin Thin, said she has not yet checked the sculpture in person, but from pictures she has seen, she said it looks like a work of the Danyawaddy Dynasty. 

“I am sure it does not belong to the Mrauk-U Dynasty. It is very likely that it is from the Danyawaddy Dynasty. But I have not checked it in detail and so I can’t confirm it,” she said. 

She urged local villagers to keep the ancient religious objects as they are, and not to attempt to repair or polish them out of piety. 

“It is better to keep the stone as it is. It is important not to paint it and not to fix the cracks. Only after we see them in their original state will we be able to guess when they were made. And it is also important not to move them,” she said. 

Deputy Director U Hsan Win of the Mrauk-U branch of the Department of Archaeology and National Museum said the department has not yet been informed about the sculpture, but will make a field visit and tend to the sculpture when notified.