Chinese temple to ‘unveil’ 1000 year old Buddha’s relic

The temple said Buddhist monks and archaeologists will “unveil” the relic,stored in its “Ashoka pagoda” for the first time in the more than 1000 years.

Buddhist monks will then enshrine the “sarira” in a case that will ensure a stable temperature and humidity,it said.

The “unveiling” ceremony would be telecast live by some local televisions.

The pagoda contains the only known part of Sakyamuni’s skull,said Qi Haining,an expert with Nanjing Museum and head of the archaeological team responsible for its discovery.

Buddhist monks will then enshrine the “sarira” in a case that will ensure a stable temperature and humidity.

Archaeologists will document the entire process with photographs and videos and brief the press and public on the process of discovering the artefact and why they believe it belongs to Buddha,the ‘Daily’ said.

Local authorities have promised tight security to ensure the safety of the sarira,which Buddhists all over the world regard as holy,it said.

Over 2,500 years ago,Buddha’s disciples retrieved one skull bone,two scapula’s,four teeth and 84,000 pearl-like sariras after his body was cremated.

According to Buddhist records,Emperor Asoka collected all of Sakyamuni’s sarira,stored them in pagoda-shaped shrines before sending them to different parts of the world. China is believed to have received 19 of them.

The discovery of the sarira to be enshrined on Saturday has been an exhilarating archaeological experience,the Daily said.

It started in July 2008,when archaeologists set out to excavate the ruins of Nanjing’s Changgan Temple,built in the Song Dynasty (AD 960-1279).

They unearthed a stele with an inscription,reading,”A Seven-Treasure Pagoda of King Asoka” that contained a miniature gold coffin nested inside a silver one. The gold casket holds Sakyamuni’s sarira.

Archaeologists were excited to find the record on the stele conforms with historical records of an Asoka pagoda a tiered tower with multiple eaves buried under the Changgan Temple,the second temple in China that received and housed Sakyamuni’s sarira.

However,their most exciting moment came last August,when they excavated from the temple a wooden Asoka pagoda covered with gilded silver and inlaid with “seven treasures”,including gold,silver,colored glaze and amber.

The pagoda contained the nested coffins with the Sakyamuni relic inside. But it took the team another year to excavate and verify the artefacts,it said.

Buddhism came to China in 68 AD when first Buddhist temple called White Horse temple was built in Luoyang by Chinese Monk Xuanzan after a 17-year-long voyage to India.

Luoyang was in news recently when President Pratibha Patil inaugurated an Indian style Buddhist temple which was built in association with India.

Qixia Buddhist temple located in Qixia Hill,22 kilometres northeast of center of Nanjing,Jiangsu Province,China.

Built in Yongming 7th year (AD 489) during Qi Dynasty,the temple is known for its large collection of Chinese Buddhist visual art and sculptural art in its temple ground.

Its contains pagodas,murals and artwork that dates to back to the 10th century.

Near the temple site and situated at the slopes of Qixia Hill,there lies a “Thousand Buddha Caves”,containing many Buddhist sculptures.