A Buddha statue being transported in Phnom Penh (Photo: AFP/File/Philippe Lopez)Tuesday, June 12, 2007
A museum showing 274 long-lost Cambodian Buddhist statues, some a millennium old, will open in November near the Angkor Wat temples, the head of the Japanese preservation project announced Tuesday.
TOKYO (AFP) - The Japanese-led research team found the statues in 2001 some six kilometres (four miles) from Angkor Wat, the former capital of the powerful Khmer empire and emblem of Cambodian identity.
The statues will go on display in November in the new two-storey Preah Norodom Sihanouk Museum, named after Cambodia's former king, team leader Yoshiaki Ishizawa said.
"By exhibiting the Buddhist statues, I hope the museum will be able to complement what is lacking in Angkor Wat and that is to offer idols dating from ancient times," said Ishizawa, who is also president of Tokyo's Sophia University.
The statues, crafted between the 11th and 13th centuries and some as tall as 1.2 metres, were buried underground after the apparent destruction of a temple.
Looking back at the team's moment of excavation, Ishizawa said: "Our Cambodian members were getting a bit emotional, with their hands trembling with excitement."
The museum, which has 1,820 square metres (19,580 square feet) of floor space, is located about one kilometre from Angkor Wat. The museum will be donated to and run by Cambodia.
"What's important is that the Cambodian people preserve these national treasures with their own hands and proudly talk about them as their cultural heritage," Ishizawa said.
He said he hoped to expand the museum eventually with a library and the creation of a scholarship for Cambodian researchers.
The museum was made possible through a donation of 130 million yen (one million dollars) by the Aeon Co., a leading Japanese retail chain.
TOKYO (AFP) - The Japanese-led research team found the statues in 2001 some six kilometres (four miles) from Angkor Wat, the former capital of the powerful Khmer empire and emblem of Cambodian identity.
The statues will go on display in November in the new two-storey Preah Norodom Sihanouk Museum, named after Cambodia's former king, team leader Yoshiaki Ishizawa said.
"By exhibiting the Buddhist statues, I hope the museum will be able to complement what is lacking in Angkor Wat and that is to offer idols dating from ancient times," said Ishizawa, who is also president of Tokyo's Sophia University.
The statues, crafted between the 11th and 13th centuries and some as tall as 1.2 metres, were buried underground after the apparent destruction of a temple.
Looking back at the team's moment of excavation, Ishizawa said: "Our Cambodian members were getting a bit emotional, with their hands trembling with excitement."
The museum, which has 1,820 square metres (19,580 square feet) of floor space, is located about one kilometre from Angkor Wat. The museum will be donated to and run by Cambodia.
"What's important is that the Cambodian people preserve these national treasures with their own hands and proudly talk about them as their cultural heritage," Ishizawa said.
He said he hoped to expand the museum eventually with a library and the creation of a scholarship for Cambodian researchers.
The museum was made possible through a donation of 130 million yen (one million dollars) by the Aeon Co., a leading Japanese retail chain.
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