泰国佛寺遭旱灾淹没

泰国佛寺遭旱灾淹没

Thousands are flocking to see a Buddhist temple in central Thailand exposed after drought drove water levels to record lows in a dam reservoir where it had been submerged.

泰国中部一座佛寺因干旱导致水库水位降至历史最低水平，数千人涌向寺庙。

As the reservoir reaches less than 3 percent of capacity, the remains of Wat Nong Bua Yai, a modern temple submerged during construction of the dam 20 years ago, have become visible in the middle of dry ground.

由于水库的蓄水量不足3%，20年前在大坝建设过程中被淹没的现代寺庙卧铺雅伊寺(Wat Nong Bua Yai)的遗迹重露真容。

Some Buddhist monks were among the hundreds of people who walked through broken temple structures on cracked earth littered with dead fish last week to pay respects to a headless 13-feet -tall Buddha statue, adorning it with flowers.

上周，数百人在布满死鱼的龟裂土地上走进破损的寺庙建筑，瞻仰一尊13英尺高、用鲜花装饰的无头佛像，一些佛教僧侣也在其中。

“The temple is normally covered by water. In the rainy season you don’t see anything,” said one of the visitors, Somchai Ornchawiang, a 67-year-old retired teacher.

“神庙经常被水淹，在雨季，你什么也看不见。”一位67岁的退休教师索姆查.奥查维昂(SomchaiOrnchawiang)说。

He regretted the temple flooding but is now worried about the damage the drought is causing to farmland, he added.

他补充说，他对寺庙遭遇洪水感到遗憾，但现在他更担心干旱对农田造成的破坏。

The dam, with a capacity of 960 million cubic meters, normally irrigates more than 1.3 million acres (526,000 hectares) of farmland in four provinces, but drought has cut that to just 3,000 acres (1,214 hectares) in the single province of Lopburi.

大坝的容量为9.6亿立方米，通常可以灌溉4个省130多万英亩(52.6万公顷)的农田，但如今只够洛普布里一个省的3000英亩(1214公顷)。

The meteorological department says Thailand is facing its worst drought in a decade, with water levels in dams nationwide having fallen far short of the monthly average.

气象部门说，泰国正面临十年来最严重的干旱，全国大坝的水位远低于月平均水平。

Yotin Lopnikorn, 38, headman of the Nong Bua village that used to be near the temple, recalls visiting it with friends as a child before dam construction forced the villagers out.

38岁的Yotin Lopnikorn是农布阿村的村长，农布阿村曾经靠近寺庙。他回忆说，在大坝建设迫使村民们离开之前，他还是个孩子，和朋友们一起参观过寺庙。

“When I was young, I always came to meet friends at the elephant sculptures in front of the main building to play there,” Yotin said.

Yotin说:“我小的时候，总是去主楼前的大象雕塑馆和朋友们见面，在那里玩耍。”

At the time, the temple was the center of the community, used to conduct rituals, festivities and educational activities, besides functioning as a playground and recreational area.

当时，寺庙是社区的中心，除了用作游乐场和娱乐区外，还用于举行仪式、庆典和教育活动。

Next to the temple compound are the remains of 700 households of the village.

寺庙旁边是村里700户人家的遗骨。

The ruins have reappeared before, after a drought in 2015.

在2015年的一场干旱之后，这片废墟曾经重新出现过。

“This is the second time I have seen this temple in this condition,” said Yotin. “Now I think we need to save this place.”

“这是我第二次看到这座寺庙处于这种状态，”Yotin说。“我认为我们现在需要拯救这个地方。”