Jiangxi, China: where a 600-year-old Buddha statue emerged from water

Human history is quite deep-rooted and is nothing less than amazing. We keep getting miraculous examples from time to time, proving how great the bygone civilizations were and how intelligent and creative our ancestors were! A few years ago, a similar example emerged out of water in China’s Jiangxi Province. A 600-year-old,12.5 ft (3.8 m) tall statue of Lord Buddha was discovered in a reservoir after the water level decreased due to some renovation work.

The gorgeous statue of Buddha that was carved into a cliff was first spotted by a villager in the province. He first saw the head of the statue and later, when the water level lowered further by 10 meters, more parts of the statue started emerging. Since the emergence of Buddha's head that can be seen gazing quietly over the water body, the place has become a hotspot for tourists. Locals believe it to be an auspicious sign.
Not only this, the base of a temple hall was also discovered that was sitting deep under the reservoir water. Quite possibly, there is an archaeological treasure trove waiting to be unearthed.
Archaeologists in the country believe that the Buddha statue is quite possibly from the Ming Dynasty era (1368-1644). The head of the Research Institute of Archaeology of the province, after conducting a preliminary study on the statue, had said that the idol was most probably made during the early Ming Dynasty, or maybe even earlier as the Yuan Dynasty.

The surprising facts:

1) As per the local records, the reservoir sits on the ruins of an ancient town known as Xiaoshi.
2) Archaeologists believe that being deep inside the water “could” have helped preserve the Buddha statue.

3) There are surprisingly detailed carvings on the statue.
4) It is also believed that because it was under the water, the statue remained safe during the country's Cultural Revolution back in the 1960s. This was the time when a number of cultural relics were destroyed and people were asked to throw away everything which was old and superstitious.