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Volume 13, Issue #3. Published on February 28, 2005
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Photo Associated Press
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Astounded fisherman find statue and place it in a temple.
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AMONG THE HISTORIC TRAGEDY UNFORSEEN BOUNTIES FOUND
Buddah Takes Incredible Trip
Tsunami takes statue across the Indian Ocean.
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Harim Martinez
Asian Pacific Review
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The towering waves that killed more than 285,000 people throughout Asia also appear to have swept a bronze Buddha to Indian shores across the Indian Ocean.
Experts are examining the 15cm tall bronze figure found inside a bamboo basket attached to a raft to determine its age and origin. The figure with Myanmarese writing on its back is seated lotus style and holds a begging bowl on his lap.
"It seems it might have been taken to Thailand from Myanmar [Burma] at some point and then was carried out to sea by the tsunami," said B Sasisekaran, a scientist at the National Institute of Ocean Technology.
While Myanmar suffered some damage from the tsunamis, oceanographers think the way the waves traveled east to west. The ocean patterns suggest the Buddha came from the coast of Thailand, which is a Buddhist country.
"It was lying with some other objects. It must have been carried out to the sea from Burma or Thailand," said T Sathiamoorthy of the Archaeological Survey of India.
Amazed by the long journey and survival of the statue, fishermen who made the discovery initially put the statue inside a Hindu temple. The Buddha, has since been handed over to the local authorities. It may soon find a place in an Indian museum.
"We will protect it if nobody claims it," said Sathiamoorthy.
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