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Opened casket reveals miniature tower
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ARCHAEOLOGISTS on a hunt for hair were surprised to find a very rare ancient miniature pagoda after they opened a mysterious iron case on Wednesday evening.
The 35-cm-high gold plated silver pagoda was found within the 100kg box, which had been unearthed from the basement of a collapsed pagoda in East China.
The four sides of the miniature pagoda were decorated with carvings based on stories about Buddha's earlier incarnations.
But sealed within the pagoda model but visible through perforations in the decoration is a small gold vessel. Experts believe some of Buddha's hair is in the vessel.
It has been decided not to open the vessel so as to keep it intact.
This is the second time some of Buddha's hair has been found in China. In the 1970s, hair of Buddha Sakyamuni was found in the Shentong Temple in Yaoxian County, Shaanxi Province.
The well-preserved silver model, which dates back over 1,000 years, represents the high level of art at that time, experts say.
Cao Jinyan, director of the Zhejiang Province Cultural Relics Research Institute, said the pagoda statue should be rated as a cultural relic at the national-treasure level.
In addition, a square bronze mirror, a gilded silver box, a decorative belt and a little blue glass bottle were also found in the case.
The iron case was unearthed from the basement of Leifeng Pagoda near the scenic West Lake in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province, on March 11.
The excavation has drawn wide attention in China because of a legend about a white snake who, the legend says, was imprisoned under the Leifeng Pagoda as punishment for her affair with a young scholar.
Last year, the municipal government of Hangzhou decided to rebuild the pagoda, which was built more than 1,000 years ago but collapsed 77 years ago. The current excavation is a part of the rebuilding project. (SD-Xinhua)
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