7th-century Buddha statue found in Kargil

This is a 7th-century monument, said Khurshid Ahmad Qadri,director of J-Ks Archives,Archaeology and Museums Department. Its 7-metre tall and has been completely cut out from a rock. There is another Buddha statue in the area but that is a smaller one.

The discovery was made during a routine survey at Sankoo,42 km from Kargil town. Our team was conducting a survey when they discovered it. We questioned the locals about the possibility of more such statues in the area but their answer was in the negative, said Qadri.

The sculpture has fine details and is carved out by the highly skilled artists. There are a large number of holes

too which suggests that the artists used scaffolds to carve out this sculpture, Qadri added.

The discovery will shed light on the history of Ladakh. It suggests the presence of Buddhism in the area during that period, he said. In fact,the area where the Buddha statue was discovered is still dominated by the Buddhist population.

Before the advent of Islam,Kashmir was influenced by Buddhism some 15 centuries ago and the sixth Buddhist council is believed to have been held in the Valley.

Buddha statues had hit the headlines in 2001 when the Taliban destroyed the Buddha sculptures in Bamiyan,disregarding international requests and pressure.