1,000 year old Buddha Statue hides Mummified remains

Scientists discovered a hidden surprise inside a Chinese statue of a sitting Buddha. They found a mummified remains of a monk who lived 1,000 years ago.

The mummified monk is believed to be Liuquan, a Buddhist master
from the Chinese Medidation School.

Researchers knew there was a mummy in statue, but the CT scan at the Meander Medical Centre, gave them the first close-up look at the skeleton inside. They were shocked to find that the monk was missing all of his organs.

They discovered the hidden paper scrolls and figured out that the mummy was the body of Liuquan, an ancient Buddhist master from the Chinese Meditation School.

The discovery of the statue is of great cultural importance but it was made even more remarkable with the mummified monk inside.

Bone material was also collected from the mummified monk and will be subjected to DNA testing.

The Buddha Statue was likely housed in a monastery in Southeastern China for centuries.

The monk’s internal organs had been removed and replaced
 with scrolls covered with ancient Chinese script.

It may have been smuggled from the country and was bought and sold in the Netherlands. In 1996, a private owner decided to have someone fix the chips and cracks that marred the gold-painted exterior.

But when the restorer removed the statue from its wooden platform, he noticed two pillows emblazoned with Chinese text placed beneath the statues' knees. When he removed the pillows, he discovered the human remains.

Rolls of paper scraps covered in Chinese writing were
discovered alongside the monk.

The mummy was sitting on a rolled textile carpet covered in Chinese text.

Researchers then used radioactive isotopes of carbon to determine that the mummy likely lived during the 11th or 12th century, while the carpet was about 200 years older, van Vilsteren said.

"He looked right into the bottom of this monk," van Vilsteren told Live Science. "You can see part of the bones and tissue of his skin."

The statue will be on display at the Hungarian Natural History Museum in Budapest until May 2015.

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