Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c18.s5.12

v1.c18.s5.12

The celebrated Chinese traveller, Hiuen-Tsang saw and reported a gigantic copper colossus of Buddha image, no less than 80 ft in height, standing upright towards the east of the great Nalanda convent. This was the work of the seventh century AD, during the reign of Raja Purnavarman. The marauding invaders of the twelfth century did not appreciate the sanctity of these statues; the representatives of another group of invaders discovered in 1862 ‘the right foot of the Sultanganj statue ten feet under the surface and about a mile away from the monastery, and eventually placed this statue in the Birmingham Museum for the posterity to appreciate at least the technical excellence of the ancient Indian copper-smiths.