The Fine Arts Department (FAD) yesterday denied rumours the broken torso of a Buddha statue in a deserted Ayutthaya temple has placed a hex on Thailand, causing the political problems besieging the country for the past half-decade.
Speaking after inspecting the damaged reclining Buddha in Wat Phra Non (Reclining Buddha Temple), Prateep Phengtako, the director of the FAD's 3rd region office in Ayutthaya, said the situation in Thailand is unrelated to the damaged statue, despite superstitions raised by netizens on social media.
Earlier, rumours spread on social media sites that the broken statue was a bad omen for the country.
The director said he found the Buddha in poor condition, with most parts of the statue having collapsed. It had received little attention over the years.
Much of the Buddha was ruined from being left outdoors at the deserted temple, he said.
Thieves had also punctured a large hole on the torso and stolen the valuable objects hidden inside.
The 18-metre reclining Buddha, which is registered as a historical item, was believed to date from the early Ayutthaya era in the 14th century.
Some historical texts suggest the temple, which stands between Wat Pradok and Wat Chumpol, is not part of the compound of temples built by past kings. However, it is still part of Ayutthaya's history and deserves to be restored, said Mr Prateep.
The deserted temple, which is located in a newly developed residential area, is about 1km away from the popular site Wat Yai Chaimongkol.
The FAD now plans to restore the reclining Buddha statue and the temple area, said Mr Prateep, adding the Buddha will be fixed first, followed by other structures in the temple -- costing roughly 700,000 baht and four to five million baht, respectively.
Mr Prateep said monks and followers from Wat Sri Sudaram, also in Ayutthaya, will help to raise the money needed for the restoration.