A Giant Headless Buddha Statue Discovered Under a Residential Complex in China

A 9-meter-high Buddha statue without a head was recently discovered in a residential complex in Chongqing of southwest China. Surrounded by tall buildings, the statue was covered by vegetation, with a residential structure built on top of it. Most residents were unaware of it until the vegetation was removed due to a reconstruction of the building’s external wall.

h/t: shine

The headless statue is in sitting position with two hands on abdomen and a badly damaged left foot.

“The statue was here when I was young,” said a 60-year-old resident. “There was a head on it but was later damaged.”

Another resident surnamed Yang who has lived in the complex for many years said there was also a temple near the statue many years ago, but it was demolished when residential buildings were built there in the 1980s.

“I heard the Buddha statue was built nearly a thousand year ago,” said Yang.

The local authority of cultural relics has launched an investigation into the statue.