PHNOM PENH: A massive, 1,000-year-old "Dancing Shiva" statue, which was broken into more than 10,000 fragments decades ago, has been successfully restored in Cambodia, the culture ministry said on Thursday.
The five-metre (16-foot) and seven-ton (14,000-pound) sandstone sculpture – with 10 arms and five faces – dates back to the 10th century from the site of an ancient capital of the Khmer Empire, Koh Ker.
The temple ruins of Koh Ker in northern Cambodia were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2023.
The Dancing Shiva, which was "reborn after its complete restoration", was unveiled Wednesday evening at the Angkor Conservation Centre in Siem Reap city, home of the renowned Angkor Wat heritage site, the ministry said.
Cambodian experts in cooperation with the French School of the Far East (EFEO) spent five years restoring the immense artwork, it added.
The statue "was toppled in the 14th century and shattered into more than 10,000 fragments by looters" during the country's years of civil war, according to a statement from the culture ministry, EFEO and others involved in its reconstruction.
"This restoration stands as a powerful testament to the efforts undertaken to ensure that looters do not have the final say," they said.
During the process, restorers recorded 2,750 fragments with sculpted surfaces and identified more than 700 joins, the statement said.
Officials hope to return the sculpture to Koh Ker in an effort to attract more tourists to the site, the ministry said.
Cambodia welcomed home 74 cultural artefacts last month, returned to the country after being plundered by notorious British antiques smuggler Douglas Latchford.
Thousands of relics are believed to have been trafficked out of Cambodia over the years.
Experts say the trade thrived from the mid-1960s to the 1990s – a period of civil war and instability that saw the anti-intellectual Khmer Rouge regime rise to power and left precious heritage unprotected. - NST
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