From the Guardian: Shepherd leads experts to ancient Buddha cave paintings.

A shepherd in a remote region of Nepal near the border with Tibet has been instrumental in the discovery of an extraordinary art treasure that lay hidden from the world for centuries – a collection of 55 exquisite cave paintings depicting the life of Buddha.

A partially collapsed cave containing the 12th to 14th century depictions of scenes from Buddha’s life was unearthed last month by a team of Italian, US and Nepalese conservators and archaeologists in Mustang, a lost kingdom long forbidden to foreigners in the high Himalayas, 250-km north-west of Kathmandu. [continue, see small photo]