RESTORATION OF 800 YEAR OLD BUDDHA STATUE BY CHINESE EXPERTS

Qianshou Guanyin image courtesy of www.puranoticia.cl

After 7 years of work Chinese expert have completed the restoration of a famous 800 years old Buddha statue.

Qianshou Guanyin, a statue of Buddha with 1000 hands, was carved during the Song Dynasty (1127-1279). The statue is 7.7 meters high and 12.5 meters wide. It is a masterpiece among thousands of individual rock carvings in the grottoes in Dazu. The carvings date back as early as the Tang Dynasty (618-907). They were listed as major World Heritage sites by UNESCO in 1999.

The staute has developed cracks and color faded, some of its gold foils also peeled off. The restoration work begun in 2008. Workers restored 830 hands and 227 instruments using one million gold foils while consolidating the dated pieces of the statue and thoroughly cleaning it.

The project is expected to help the Qianshou Guanyin keep glowing for at least 50 years, said Zhan Changfa, a researcher of the Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage, who is in charge of the project.

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