6th Century Statue Found In Battambang Ditch

Battambang: A statue, reported to be around 1,500 years old was found in canal water in Dammong 1 commune, Sangke district, and was handed over to the police on the afternoon of October 25.

Police say the rare statue was found by a 21-year-old man and his friend in a ditch near the train tracks on October 24.

Di Keo, deputy director of the Heritage Office, who inspected the statue, was quoted as saying the statue was of “Vishnu or a goddess” with four arms and was 1.4 meters in height.

Authorities quoted the official as saying that this rare statue was made of sandstone in the 6th century and is more than 1,500 years old.

Related to the discovery of the statue, experts and authorities said that the statue may have been transported from somewhere illegally and someone may have been trying to get onto the antiquities market. But without a set buyer it might have been hidden in the ditch temporarily, but this is just speculation.

After the examination, the official of the Provincial Department of Culture and Fine Arts carried the statue for safe keeping. KOHSANTEPHEAP