A Chinese temple will loan its treasure -- a 2,600-year-old piece of the Buddha's finger -- for exhibition in a Taiwanese temple, Buddhist officials said yesterday.
Taiwanese religious leaders will go to Famen Temple in Xian, central China, and escort the finger back to Taiwan on Feb. 23. The finger will be displayed in the Fokuang Buddhist temple in southern Kaohsiung for a month, officials said.
After Buddha was cremated, monks took along pieces of his fingers as they went to China to preach Buddhism.
Four cylinders containing the fingers had been kept in separate rooms in the Xian temple and they were worshipped by several Chinese emperors, according to historic documents.
Of the four fingers, it was believed that only one belonged to the Buddha while three others were fakes meant to confuse burglars. The one to be exhibited in Taiwan will be the authentic one, Fokuang Temple officials said.
RSS