page_title: Famen Temple
section_title: Buddha's relics
hierarchical_section_title: Famen Temple / Relics / Buddha's relics
caption_attribution_description: English: Famen temple in Shaanxi province (China) Français&#160;: Le temple Famen, dans la province chinoise de Shaanxi
context_page_description: Famen Temple is a Buddhist temple located in Famen town, Fufeng County, 120 kilometers west of Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. It was widely regarded as the "ancestor of pagoda temples in Guanzhong".
context_section_description: From 5–12 May 1987, after the opening of an underground palace, four relics claimed to be directly related to Buddha were found. Two of these were made of white jade. The third relic was from a famous monk. These three are called "duplicate relics" (影骨). They were placed together with a "true relic" (靈骨) in order to protect them. The true relic is yellow-colored, with bone-like secretory granules. It is believed to be a finger bone of the Gautama Buddha (Sakyamuni). Thereafter, Famen Temple became a Buddhist place of pilgrimage due to the discovery of what is claimed as a true relic of Buddha.
  The finger bone was preserved in the last of eight boxes, each enclosing the others, each wrapped in thin silk. The outer box was in sandalwood and had rotted away, but the smaller boxes were in gold, some in silver, and one in jade, and were in a good state of preservation. Each box had a silver lock and was exquisitely carved.
  The true relic is exactly the same as the description by Tang dynasty Buddhist DaoXuan and other Tang dynasty records.
  The relics have been abroad four times, 1994/11/29 - 1995/02/29 in Thailand, 2002/02/23 - 2002/03/30 in Taiwan, 2004/05/26 - 2004/06/05 in Hong Kong, 2005/11/11 - 2005/12/21 in South Korea.
caption: Relic displayed in the new complex
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