QUANG BINH  (VNS) — Four statues were found in central Quang Binh Province during an excavation conducted for the restoration of a 700-year-old Buddhist pagoda.

The statues, three wooden and one bronze, were found under the foundation of the ancient Hoang Phuc Pagoda in the province's My Thuy Commune. These depicted men wearing feudal Mandarin-style clothes with complicated carvings.

Each wooden statue weighed approximately 40kg and was measured to be 50cm tall. The bronze statue was smaller, weighing only 3kg.

The elderly members of the commune claimed that they had seen the statues in the pagoda a long time ago, saying that someone buried them under the foundation after a storm completely wrecked the structure in 1985.

Researchers are in the process of determining the age of the statues.

In November, authorities of the Quang Binh Province commenced a US$1.9 million restoration project to rebuild the pagoda, which is a historical site in the locality.

Feudal documents recorded that the pagoda was first built in the 13th century and had been tended by the Nguyen Dynasty (1802 – 1945) kings. — VNS