Since Buddhism entered China, especially in the Tang Dynasty, it gained the same status as Taoism and Confucianism, which attracted many people to believe in it, and temples spread all over the country. Up to now, many temples have become scenic spots. In addition to these temples, there are many Buddha statues carved in the wild among the people, and some of them have become famous scenic spots, such as Leshan Giant Buddha. There are also a large number of Buddha statues in the four grottoes in China, which shows the influence of ancient Buddhism in China.

Of course, many Buddha statues have been destroyed or abandoned in the wilderness over the years. According to the news of 65438+February 9, a headless stone carving Buddha was found in Nan 'an District of Chongqing, which attracted the attention of netizens.

The headless ancient Buddha was discovered when Nanping Street rebuilt the old residential area here. Part of the existing complete giant Buddha is three stories high, and its outline is faintly discernible. The statue is headless above the shoulders, the existing part is in danger, and his hands are flat in front of his abdomen.

Due to years of wind and sun exposure, the ancient Buddha looks a little broken, and a large part of it is buried by rubbish, weeds and other discarded objects. At that time, the staff who reformed the community spent a lot of effort to clean up the ancient Buddha. Before this, many people living here did not find such a huge ancient Buddha statue submerged here.

So what is the origin of this headless ancient Buddha statue?

An old man nearby said that this Buddha statue had been here since 1957. There was a small temple at that time, and many people came to burn incense.

Others said that according to the legend of ancestors, a long time ago, there was a cliff in the community. After a heavy rain, a big stone fell off the cliff. It was found that the word "aboard" was engraved on the stone. The local people thought it was the will of the Buddha, so they built a temple here. This fallen stone was also carved into this ancient Buddha. The name of the temple was "Go to Cichuan Temple", and then the temple was destroyed somehow.

According to relevant records, during the Republic of China, Leizu Temple was built next to the Buddha statue, and the head of the Buddha statue was destroyed around 1950. 1987 Leizu Temple was demolished. 1990 Several residential buildings were built on the original site of the temple. Due to the special terrain here, this Buddha statue became a part of the foundation of the residential building at that time. On 20 1 1, this Buddha statue was recognized as the Maitreya Buddha statue on the cliff, and its style was close to that of the Song Dynasty, but it was impossible to verify the specific engraving year.

The local cultural relics department is going to conduct another archaeological investigation on this Buddha statue, and ask professional appraisers and cultural relics experts to identify the ancient Buddha, and then make a protection plan for the stone statue.

The Nanping Ancient Buddha Report issued by the cultural relics management department mentioned that the specific excavation date of this ancient Buddha is unknown. The Cultural Relics Management Office and Nanping Street cleaned up the stone carvings and reported the rescue and protection project to the Municipal Cultural Relics Bureau, hoping to obtain industry guidance and special funds.

The report emphasizes that Nanping Street is also required to strengthen the daily management of stone buddhas. Before Chongqing was directly under the central government, statues were listed as district-level cultural relics protection units. After the third national survey of immovable cultural relics and the identification of cultural relics experts, the statue was classified as unclassified immovable cultural relics.