An extraordinary archaeological find recently grabbed national headlines: a lifesize Buddha statue unearthed in Bukit Choras, Kedah, believed to date back to the 7th or 8th century CE, making it older than Angkor Wat.
Could this discovery mean the nation’s history extends far beyond what we’ve learnt in our textbooks? FMT Lifestyle uncovered the inside story from Nasha Rodziadi Khaw, the man responsible for revealing the deep secrets of Bukit Choras.
This intact Buddha head, found alongside the statue, is what made this recent discovery truly astonishing.
Excavated from Bukit Choras in Kedah, the majestic statue is now at Universiti Sains Malaysia's Global Archaeological Research Centre.
Nasha Rodziadi Khaw, 39, is a senior lecturer at USM and the archaeologist who led the project at Bukit Choras.
Experts were amazed by the statue's detailed features, such as the garment and seated posture.
This ancient Buddha figure is made of stucco - a plaster mix of lime, water and sand - which is not known for its longevity.
Nasha never expected to hit such a jackpot on the first excavation site of his career.
The team also found two other incomplete Buddha statues at Bukit Choras, at each cardinal point of the ancient temple that dates back 1,200 years.
During the first phase of excavation last September, they unearthed a large torso of the sculpture on the southern wall of the temple.
At the western wall, yet another fragmented part of the Buddha was excavated.
Sculpted alongside the statue on a stone slab was a depiction of the temple's original structure.
Another groundbreaking find at Bukit Choras were these identical ancient inscriptions of Buddhist text, using Pallava script in the Sanskrit language.
Although excavation at the site began last year, Nasha began researching the history of Bukit Choras in 2017.
Nasha, who is trained in Sanskrit, completed his PhD in archaeology in Pakistan.
After the excavation of the statue, his work now involves extensive analysis and research.
Given that Nasha and his team have only explored a fraction of the Bukit Choras site, we’re betting this won't be the last we hear from them.