Golden urn containing relics stolen from shrine

[Jessie Fong]

More and more reports are coming in about incidents where religious items are stolen from holy shrines and temples. 

Why is this happening?
Do not the thieves realise what they are doing or are they so blinded by greed?



As reported in .. http://bigstory.ap.org/article/precious-buddhist-relics-stolen-cambodia

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodian officials said Friday a golden urn containing what are considered to be remnants of Buddha's body has been stolen from its shrine near the capital.

Government spokesman Ek Tha said the relics have enormous religious and cultural significance for Cambodians.

"This relic has been respected by Buddhist followers for thousands of years," he said. "This theft cannot be accepted. The perpetrator and any associates who connived to commit such a crime must be prosecuted according to the law of Cambodia."

National Police spokesman Kirt Chantharith said the theft was discovered Tuesday when a guard was woken by a barking dog and found the lock to the shrine's door had been damaged and the urn removed.

He said police questioned 13 of the shrine's guards and detained six as suspects, but that authorities had no information about the relics' location. "We need more time to do the investigation," he said.

Ek Tha said the relics had been moved by late King Norodom Sihanouk in 2002 from Phnom Penh, the capital, to the mountain shrine in the former royal city of Udong in a ceremony attended by tens of thousands.

[Q]

Oh dear... this is truly disappointing news. Nothing new though... relics do fetch a very high price in the market. Many people even smuggle our ancient Buddhist items like statues and implements, so it is no wonder if someone decides to steal the urn that contains the remains of Buddha!

This urn can be considered a very precious antique even to those that do not believe on the blessings it brings. After all, if antiques are not considered valuable and precious, the museums would not waste resources on security would it?

Truly an unfortunate thing for Cambodia to have lost such a precious relic that would have blessed their land and people. Perhaps they have just lost the merits to keep such a relic due to the continuous internal unrest in their country. 

[metta girl]

It's sad that something so precious is lost . Because of greed ,humans are willing to steal for their own benefits . This relic have been around for thousands of years and  have been respected byBuddhists followers for so long .. symbolising faith and spirituality.... Hope the relic can be found and be return to its original place.

[icy]

Cambodian Buddhist monks call for urgent action against theft of Buddha's relics

PHNOM PENH, Dec. 17-- Some 150 Buddhist monks held a protest in the capital on Tuesday morning, calling for the Cambodian government to take an urgent action against the theft of the country's only relics of the Buddha.

Monk-protesters carrying national and religious flags and banners read: "The demonstration is to demand the government to take an urgent measure for the loss of the relics of the Buddha."

"We urge the government to launch a serious probe into the loss of the relics of the Buddha last week," Venerable But Buntenh, a representative of the protesting monks, told reporters during the protest on a street in front of the Chak Tomuk Theater.

A golden urn containing what are believed to be relics of the Buddha including hair, teeth and bones was stolen from a mountaintop shrine in the former royal city of Udong in Kandal province on Tuesday last week, Kheng Tito, spokesman for the National Military Police, said.

On Sunday, the Kandal Provincial Court charged five persons with aggravated theft for their suspected involvement in stealing the relics of the Buddha. So far, the whereabouts of the relics remains unknown.

The protest ended in the same morning after Venerable Khim Sorn, chief of the secretariat of the Mohanikaya Buddhist order, met with protesting monks and promised to write a letter to the government to demand the expedition of the investigation into the case.

Cambodia's late King Norodom Sihanouk brought the relics from Sri Lanka to Cambodia in the 1957 to mark the 2,500th anniversary of Buddha's birth.

Deputy Prime Minister and Cabinet Minister Sok An said Monday that an investigation into this case was underway.

"Now, all the competent authorities are working very actively on this case and when the work is in the process, I don't want to make any comments," he told reporters.

Cambodia is a Buddhist-dominant country, where about 90 percent of the 14.8 million populations are Buddhists.

Late King Norodom Sihanouk moved the relics in 2002 from the capital Phnom Penh to Udong Mountain, some 45 km northwest of Phnom Penh in an elaborate ceremony, which was attended by tens of thousands of Buddhist holders.

[bambi]

Just in case you want to know how it looks like



I am sorry but this is really getting out of hand! Knowing that the items are so precious, why cant they have better security?

"when a guard was woken by a barking dog and found the lock to the shrine's door had been damaged and the urn removed. He said police questioned 13 of the shrine's guards and detained six as suspects"

The above really sounds absurd. Woke up by a barking dog? What happened to the other 12 guards? Also sleeping?

They should have sensors around the holy item, CCTV and a good alarm system. The relics are not something you can buy off the street when it is lost!

[Kim Hyun Jae]

I tend to agree with Bambi on the lack of securitu for a stupa made of gold housing the preciousness of Buddha’s relic presented as a gift to a Buddhist country to commemorate Buddha Shakyamuni's 2,500 years. The country may have hold the practise of Buddhism for years but precautions and prevention is a necessity for such precious relic prayed to by many.

I do wish whoever who did it, ie. Stole it will find in their heart to return the stupa and relics to redeem their actions quickly, although the karma has already ripened.

[pgdharma]

The relics are a national treasure and the government should take responsibility to guard it well. It is a shame that such a holy and priceless relics are not guarded and protected well and has gone missing now. Hope that who ever stole it will return the holy relics back to where it should be.

[diablo1974]

There's high resale value for even the Buddha Relics. Its the government fault for taking its security measures for granted as they would be thinking that no one will steal the property of the Triple Gems since its country religion is Buddhism. With this incident as a lesson, i hope they will step up its security as well as drills conducted for security enforcers.

[Tenzin Malgyur]

Oh dear. There are no shortage of news on precious items being stolen from places of worship. As a matter of fact, there were many blockbuster movies on stolen relic too. And it involves relics treasured by the Muslims, Christianity, Hindus, just to name a few. Surely the thief was more attracted to the lucrative sum of money he would obtain from the sale of such items than to fear the consequences of his wrong doings. I guess the biggest culprit would be the one paying a big sum of money to procure the stolen treasure.

[Freyr Aesiragnorak]

This all begs the question in regards to how and why the demand for such holy treasures exits in the world. Even those who acquire the items from those that stole them are equal in the amounts of negative karma that is committed according to the Lam Rim teachings. So do people think that it would be other Buddhists how would want these items? Or even if they are Buddhists, would they be Buddhists who knew the Dharma well enough to know that these actions should not be committed by sincere practitioners?

More likely than not however is that these items are being sold off to non-Buddhists who think these items as exotic. It’s a real shame these people are committing themselves to further suffering in the world, once their Karma reaches back to them.

[Manjushri]

It's disappointing to know that people will go to the extent to steal something so holy and blessed, which is for the benefit of so many, just for their own self greed, benefits and desires. This is purely driven from a self-cherishing mind. The extent of their karma to perform such deeds must be so heavy that it propels them to continue getting themselves deeper into 'trouble' without realising it. So what if the person has stolen the relics? What can he or she do with it now since the entire country is on watch. What blessings would he or she get from opposing the vows that Buddha himself has taught and given for people to hold on to? Everyday that the person does not return the relic, is a day that he or she collects more negative karma. I hope the person would realise it.

Maybe the government can put an announcement that if returned, there won't be any punishment handed to them whatsoever otherwise I think they would be too scared to return it, afraid of the punishments they might be dealt with.

I am glad people recognize the worth and value of relics to react to the situation.

[Klein]

I agree with Manjushri. The demerits for the people are tremendous and it's really too bad that they are so clouded by their own greed. I do hope the Government will go all out to retrieve the relics as it will boost the morale of the people in the country.

It's disappointing to know that people will go to the extent to steal something so holy and blessed, which is for the benefit of so many, just for their own self greed, benefits and desires. This is purely driven from a self-cherishing mind. The extent of their karma to perform such deeds must be so heavy that it propels them to continue getting themselves deeper into 'trouble' without realising it. So what if the person has stolen the relics? What can he or she do with it now since the entire country is on watch. What blessings would he or she get from opposing the vows that Buddha himself has taught and given for people to hold on to? Everyday that the person does not return the relic, is a day that he or she collects more negative karma. I hope the person would realise it.

Maybe the government can put an announcement that if returned, there won't be any punishment handed to them whatsoever otherwise I think they would be too scared to return it, afraid of the punishments they might be dealt with.

I am glad people recognize the worth and value of relics to react to the situation.

[rossoneri]

Sorry, the authority who is in charge of the safe guard of the shrine should take this responsible very seriously, the relic is much more important than all the diamonds in the world if you are a Buddhist. How can it be stolen with so many guards around? Something fishy is going on here. It is also sad to know that more and more people due to their selfish reason would pay high price for the relic as a collectible items which will be displaying in their little museum as an show off...sad

[fruven]

It's disappointing to know that people will go to the extent to steal something so holy and blessed, which is for the benefit of so many, just for their own self greed, benefits and desires. This is purely driven from a self-cherishing mind. The extent of their karma to perform such deeds must be so heavy that it propels them to continue getting themselves deeper into 'trouble' without realising it. So what if the person has stolen the relics? What can he or she do with it now since the entire country is on watch. What blessings would he or she get from opposing the vows that Buddha himself has taught and given for people to hold on to? Everyday that the person does not return the relic, is a day that he or she collects more negative karma. I hope the person would realise it.

Maybe the government can put an announcement that if returned, there won't be any punishment handed to them whatsoever otherwise I think they would be too scared to return it, afraid of the punishments they might be dealt with.

I am glad people recognize the worth and value of relics to react to the situation.

No punishment could mean sending the message that there in no consequences for our actions. I think in this case there people who steal knowing the consequences of getting caught. The remedy is people the public should give for Dharma and practicing generosity. The stolen relic is a lesson that nothing is permanent, things will deteriorate or lost, the best is to practice Dharma.

[Jessie Fong]

Udong, the former capital of Cambodia, was the home of the royal family between 1618 and 1866.  It is situated roughly 22 miles from Phnom Penh.
Four stupas were built at the north-western corner of the hill. It was in one of these stupas that the stolen urn was housed.

The 4 stupas were:
1. Tomb of King Monivong (1927 to 1941)
2. Tomb of King Ang Duog (1845 to 1859)
3. Tomb of King Sorivopor (prior to1618)
4. The golden urn containing relics

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2523520/Buddhas-remains-snatched-Cambodian-shrine.html#ixzz2oFiviSvs
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An urn said to contain the remnants of Buddha has been stolen from its shrine in Udong, Cambodia, pictured above

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2523520/Buddhas-remains-snatched-Cambodian-shrine.html#ixzz2oFjAi3gV
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