Researchers believe they may have found Buddha’s remains in China, according to an article published Wednesday.
Approximately 2,000 pieces of cremated remains were found in a temple inside a box with an inscription claiming the bones belonged to Buddha. The researchers found the box in Jingchuan County, China, reported the Daily Mail.
At least 260 statues, each 6.6 feet tall, accompanied the cremated bones.
The remains are thought to belong to Prince Siddhartha Gautama, a man whose teaching became the Buddhist religion, who died around 2,500 years, according to legend, reported the Independent.
‘The monks Yunjiang and Zhiming of the Lotus School, who belonged to the Mañjuśrī Temple of the Longxing Monastery in Jingzhou Prefecture, gathered more than 2,000 pieces of śarīra, as well as the Buddha’s teeth and bones,” according to a translation of the inscription on the box.
Guatama was said to be born in modern-day Nepal and traveled to India between the 6th and 4th centuries BC. Following his death, Buddha’s remains were allegedly spread among disciples and royalty.
Villagers discovered the chest around five years ago, but the news was only recently published in English in the journal Chinese Cultural Relics.
