Villagers make murky discovery

BURIRAM: The discovery of ancient artifacts is always a cause for excitement.

A common way to unearth such relics is at an archaeological dig, though just as often they are discovered by pure chance at construction sites.

While some finds are more dramatic than others, few can beat a recent tale from Isarn of two 1,500-year-old Buddha images rising from the stagnant waters of a temple pond.

On December 10 more than 1,000 people flocked to see the images at Wat Khok Ngiw in Pa Kham District.

Many brought containers to scoop up some of the pond water, believed capable of curing ills and protecting people from danger.

The images were discovered by 52-year-old Saner Nakchalathee, who said he was led to the site after his wife told him she had seen beams of light shooting out from the temple pond in a dream.

The following day, he told the abbot of the temple about the dream.

The pair then walked round to the back of the temple, which is the site of ruins from the same era as those at the nearby Phanom Rung temple complex, where they found two Buddha head images protruding above the surface of the murky pond.

The abbot arranged a 24-hour guard for the images, as ancient Buddhist relics had been plundered from the area in the past.

The images are thought to date back to the pre-Thai Thavaravadee kingdom, it was reported.

Villagers said that they believed the images had emerged from the depths as a sign of impending prosperity and happiness to residents of Pakham District.