6th century Sleeping Buddha escaped "wrath of the Taliban"

Submitted by Milica on Wed, 2008-12-10 11:58
A 1500-year-old "Sleeping Buddha" statue has been found buried in Afghanistan near the site of the tragic destruction of two other statues seven years ago by Taliban extremists. The latest 62-foot long Buddha was found by a French-Afghan team.

The three statues of reclining Buddhas were chiseled into the sandstone cliffs, it is believed, by sixth century Buddhist pilgrims on Silk Road. All three survived attacks by several Muslim emperors and were spared by Genghis Khan only to have two of the statues blown up in 2001. "It was a happy moment for all of us when the first signs appeared. Our years-long efforts had somehow paid off," Afghan archaeologist Anwar Khan Fayez told AFP.