Discovering a giant 'treasure' in neighboring Vietnam, thousands of people flocked to see the truth, villagers earned nearly 3 billion VND in less than 1 week

The new discovery of a Buddha statue and a series of other valuable antiques has attracted thousands of people to a small village in the Golden Triangle area of ​​Southeast Asia.

In a small village along the Mekong River in Laos’ Bokeo province, signs point visitors to where dozens of Buddha statues and hundreds of gold and silver ornaments have been found. The excavation site would be easy to miss if not for the signs, as it is located 20 feet below the riverbed.

The first Buddha statue was found in March 2024. A worker was clearing gravel to renovate a nearby temple when he discovered the statue. Locals then dug up the gravel together and discovered more Buddha statues and other items.

A large-scale excavation was conducted from March to May. As a result, they found 200 bronze Buddha statues and about 900 pieces of gold and silver jewelry.

They also discovered a 1 meter diameter pillar on the riverbed, believed to be the remains of a large temple that once existed.

News of the excavation spread to surrounding countries. More than 10,000 tourists visited this small village of 80 people.

Pane Thiphavanh, the village's land manager, collected 4 million baht ($115,600) in six days from donations from tourists.

“We wanted to create a place to display the excavated artifacts and use them to revitalize the village,” said Pane.

The artifacts have caused a stir because they are believed to be traces of an ancient city called Souvanna Khomkham, or “City of Golden Lanterns.” According to legend, Souvanna Khomkham was built by the Lao people in the 5th century. It is said that there were once 100,000 households here, but conflicts destroyed the city.

There is no documentation to prove that Souvanna Khomkham actually existed. But the discovery at Bokeo could open the door to discovering the truth. One notable example is the giant Buddha statue measuring 7.2 meters high and 7.1 meters wide. The statue is located in the middle of a field not far from the excavation site. The age of the statue is unknown, but the locals call it the "Souvanna Khomkham" Buddha.

According to archaeologist Thonglith Luangkhot at the Lao Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism , some of the excavated Buddha statues are estimated to date back to the 16th century.

Authorities plan to continue excavations in March and conduct further studies to determine the age of the artifacts.

According to Nikkei Asia

Source: https://giadinh.suckhoedoisong.vn/phat-hien-kho-bau-khong-lo-o-quoc-gia-lang-gieng-viet-nam-van-nguoi-do-xo-den-xem-thuc-hu-dan-lang-kiem-gan-3-ty-dong-chua-day-1-tuan-172250121071825273.htm