27 May 2002 11:10

Archaeological experts are set to search for another giant statue
thought to be buried close to the world famous Bamiyan Buddhas which
were blown up by the Taliban, the UN cultural office said on Monday.

The hidden statue, dubbed the Reclining Buddha, is thought to be even
bigger than the two 1 800-year-old monuments which were destroyed by
the fundamentalist Islamic militia in March 2001 on the grounds that
they were idolatrous.

Delegates from around the world gathered here on Monday for a seminar
hosted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organisation (Unesco) on the revival of Afghanistan's cultural
heritage.

Unesco has drawn up a policy document for the three-day conference
which details a $200 000 project to begin searching for the Reclining
Buddha.

"Archaeological soundings should be carried out in order to identify
caves presently hidden by the debris (of the other two Buddhas) and
the exact location of the hidden Reclining Buddha," the document said.

The Unesco document said the Buddha was "several hundred meters
long". The other two were 55 meters and 38 meters tall.

Many scholars believe that a third Buddha was buried at Bamiyan in
central Afghanistan, possibly by an earthquake in the 10th century,
although there are conflicting views over whether it can be found and
what condition it might be in.

Paul Bucherer-Dietschi, of Switzerland's Afghan Museum in Exile,
carried out a survey of the site on behalf of the Afghan government
earlier this year.

He said there was little doubt the Reclining Buddha could be found
but criticised the rush to raise the issue.

"There are dangers in making the public aware of the existence of
this statue," he said.

"It could have remained covered up for maybe five or six years. Now
they must seal the site off.

"We know exactly where it is. It is written down already."

But Jean-Francois Jarrige, director of the National Museum of Asian
Art in Paris, added there could be no way of knowing for sure if the
Reclining Buddha could be unearthed.

"An archaeologist should never begin a project by saying I am going
to find this treasure," he said after recently returning from Bamiyan.

"Maybe it exists or it has been destroyed forever. The textual
evidence (over where it is located) is far from being clear. There
are different interpretations.

"Probably this Buddha has existed but what impact time and
erosion has had we do not know."

The conference will also debate the rebuilding of the other two
Buddhas. One suggestion is to leave the smaller statue in ruins as
testimony to the barbarism of the Taliban.

Bucherer-Dietschi said it would be feasible to rebuild the pair but
money would have to be spent to shore up the cliff face in which they
once stood after it was badly damaged in last year's orgy of
explosions.

"My technical recommendation (to the Afghan government) was that it
is possible but it will cost a lot," he said. Other items on the
agenda include a $300 000 project to restore Kabul Museum which was
extensively damaged during the civil war of the early 1990s and then
suffered at the hands of the Taliban who ordered the destruction of
many of its statues.

The conference was opened by interim leader Hamid Karzai who told
delegates that Afghanistan's cultural heritage "needs international
sympathy and protection".

"The existence of hundreds of historical monuments, a large number of
ancient sites and cultural remnants are all an illustration of the
rich culture our nation had and still has," he added. - Sapa-AFP

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