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The sacred tooth relic of the Buddha from China arrived here Sunday afternoon, starting its 76-day temporary enshrinement at the invitation of the Thai government.
According to Thai Deputy Prime Minister Wishanu Kruangam, the enshrinement of the sacred tooth relic, known in Thai as "phra khieo kaeo", is aimed to honor the King of Thailand who turned 75 years old this month.
As planned, the sacred tooth relic of the Buddha will be enshrined in Thailand from Dec. 15, 2002 to Feb. 28, 2003, at Buddha Monthon of Nakhon Pathom province, one of the world's best-known Buddhism centers, 50 km away from Bangkok.
Deputy Prime Minister Wishanu and Chinese Ambassador to Thailand Yan Ting'ai went to the airport to welcome the national treasure of China, which is believed as one of the only two remaining tooth relics of the Buddha.
The King of Thailand and the Queen will pay homage to the holy relic on Dec. 16.
The sacred tooth relic of the Buddha in China was brought by a famous Chinese monk from Quetta in Central Asia to Nanjing, China,about 1,500 years ago, then was conveyed to the Chinese capital ofBeijing and was kept in a pagoda there since the year of 1071.
In 1910, the pagoda was destroyed by invading western armies and but luckily the sacred tooth relic was rediscovered after that.In 1965, the Chinese government rebuilt the pagoda and permanentlyenshrined the sacred tooth relic there.
The sacred tooth relic has been sent to Myanmar and Sri Lanka to be temporary enshrined.
(People's Daily December 16, 2002)
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