Buddhist temple ruins found in Taklamakan Desert  

新疆考古發現千年前最大回字形佛殿遺址

記者從新疆和田地區策勒縣文物局了解到，中國社科院考古研究所新疆考古隊近日在對策勒縣達瑪溝佛教遺址進行考古清理時，發現一處最大的回字形佛殿遺址，遺址中的佛寺也是目前塔克拉瑪干沙漠遺址群中的最大佛寺。

Hetian (CNS) -- The ruins of an ancient Buddhist temple in the Taklamakan Desert have been discovered by the Xinjiang archeological team of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The ruins are located in the southern part of the desert in Cele county of Hetian (Hotan), according to the local administration of cultural heritage on Saturday.

The height of the sitting Buddha statue at the temple is about two meters, and the height of the temple's main hall may reach as high as six meters, said Wu Xinhua, leader of the archaeological team.

The temple represents the largest in the Taklamakan Desert in terms of scale, he added.

Judging from the layout of the ruins and the artifacts uncovered at the site, Wu and his colleagues dated the temple back to the late Western Han Dynasty.