Digitized Deities

The statues and frescoes of Buddhist deities at Mogao Grottoes are being digitized to preserve their images for future generations.

The caves were discovered in the early 1990s by Europeans, though they were first dug in AD 366 and have been a place of Buddhist worship since then. They are the principal attraction of Dunhuang, a small city on the Silk Road in West China's Gansu province.

Inevitably, however, the frescoes are fading away due to the passage of time, environmental degradation and human activity.

Every day in late summer, thousands of tourists from all over the world come to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site to admire the inspired art works.















Since most of the caves were initially designed for domestic use, they are generally smaller than 25 square meters. Carbon dioxide exhaled by the legions of visitors is disturbing the temperature and moisture balance of the caves, which is causing discoloration and damaging the frescoes and statues made of earth, wood, straw and mineral pigments.

Other factors causing the art works to be damaged include the sandy environment, wind, floods, rain and occasional earthquakes.

Inevitably, however, the frescoes are fading away due to the passage of time, environmental degradation and human activity.

Every day in late summer, thousands of tourists from all over the world come to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site to admire the inspired art works.

Since most of the caves were initially designed for domestic use, they are generally smaller than 25 square meters. Carbon dioxide exhaled by the legions of visitors is disturbing the temperature and moisture balance of the caves, which is causing discoloration and damaging the frescoes and statues made of earth, wood, straw and mineral pigments.

Other factors causing the art works to be damaged include the sandy environment, wind, floods, rain and occasional earthquakes.

"We hope the grottoes will last forever, but they are changing every minute," says Fan Jinshi, curator of Dunhuang Academy, which was established in the early 1940s,

"If we create digital images of these works and store them appropriately the hope is they could last forever."

Buddhist Personality : Paul Pattarapol

Name : Pattarapol Silapajarn
Country : Thailand
Date Of Birth : May 9, 1978
Height : 180cm
Profession : Actor

Squabbling Monks Shock Faithful

Buddhists living around Wat Bang Khun Thian Nok in Chom Thong district have reacted angrily to a row involving monks and their morning alms round.

A dispute has broken out between one monk who regularly followed a particular route to collect alms and two others who he alleged scared him off, reportedly because adherents offer money.

Residents of the area say the unseemly row was threatening to jeopardise the integrity of Buddhism.

The row came to light on Wednesday when Phra Jirawat Pasanno, 44, filed a complaint with the Crime Suppression Division (CSD) against two other monks from the same temple.

Phra Jirawat accused Phra Auan, 70, and Phra Phit Papassaro, or Phra Jo, 26, of assaulting him and threatening him with a gun after an argument over their overlapping alms routes.

Phra Jirawat has now moved to another temple in Samut Sakhon province.

The two other monks yesterday denied the accusations and met with police to check their report into the incident.

No charges have yet been laid against the two as an investigation has to be carried out.

Suthep Thongsai, a 54-year-old motorcycle taxi driver, said the row was "unacceptable and improper".

"It hurts the feelings of Buddhists," Mr Suthep said.

A 67-year-old resident who asked not to be named said she heard about the quarrel from a television report.

"I don't think this should happen as people do not select monks to give alms to.

"I often give alms to monks regardless of where they come from," she said. "These monks are tarnishing the image of Buddhism."

She said it was possible the conflict erupted because many people make merit by giving money to monks.

"Every morning I see many people stopping their cars to give money to monks before going to work," she said.

A 51-year-old merchant who did not want to be named said Phra Jirawat had questioned why she gave so little money to the temple.

"I was unsure whether the monk was joking with me or not, but in my opinion I think it is inappropriate to say something like that," she said. As a result, she no longer made merit at the temple.

She said she was unaware of the overlapping morning alms routes at the temple.

Phra Jo told the Bangkok Post that there was no concession on morning alms routes as claimed by Phra Jirawat.

"The accusation made by Phra Jirawat is not true. No monks here have been beaten up and threatened with a gun," he said.

Phra Jirawat claimed he collected morning alms on the same route from Wajjana Road leading to Rama II Road and received 300-600 baht every day and up to 1,000 baht on Buddhist holy days. He said Phra Jo and Phra Auan collected morning alms on the same route, resulting in the argument.

Phra Jo said he usually collected alms at Chom Thong Soi 3/3 where his family house was located, and Phra Auan had not left the temple to collect alms for five years because of old age.

He said in fact Phra Jirawat was the only one from the temple to go a long distance to collect alms.

Many residents had lodged complaints with the abbot of Wat Bang Khun Thian Nok accusing Phra Jirawat of using the temple name to seek public donations.

The abbot had sent him a warning but nothing changed.

"Phra Jirawat normally goes out to collect alms earlier than other monks at the temple. He comes back with lot of alms in 4-5 sacks," he said.

Phra Jo said Phra Jirawat had once persuaded him to collect alms together with him.

He said as far as he knew Phra Jirawat earned up to 30,000 baht a month.

Phra Jo said he would talk to the media today about his decision whether to file a counter-charge against the complainant.

Troops Outnumbered Monks At Thai Temple

Transportation Of World Largest Buddha Bell

Photo taken on Sept. 20, 2011 shows workers loading the world's largest Buddha bell in Wuhan City, capital of central China's Hubei Province, to transport it to the Xilai Temple of southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The bell, with height of nine meters, diameter of 6.06 meters and weight of 109 metric tons, is made of Tin-bronze by Wuhan Heavy Industry Casting & Forging Co., Ltd. The Buddhist scripture including 92,306 words has been inscribed on the bell.

Auction Of Buddha Stopped By Pakistan Claim

Pakistan has claimed a fasting Buddha statue put up for auction by Christie with a starting price of $4.45 million and wants it back.

Dawn has learnt that at UNESCO’s intervention, the world famous fine arts auction house has stopped the planned auction and has asked the Pakistani authorities to prove their claim. Sources in the Capital Administration Development Division (CADD) a sharp-eyed UNESCO official in Paris raised alarm after seeing a Christie advertisement about the auction.

The advertisement described the grey schist figure of the emaciated Siddhartha, or ‘Fasting Buddha’, as the most fascinating 3rd/4th century Gandhara piece in Christie’s entire collection. It came to the auctioneer from a private collector who acquired it in Germany back in 1981.
















The UNESCO official’s alertness, made Islamabad’s Department of Archaeology and Museums (DOAM) look deeper for Pakistan-origin artifacts that might have reached the auctioneer surreptitiously for sale.

Indeed search revealed 60 more relics of Gandhara period lying with Christie with price tags from $2,000 to $200,000.

A DOAM official called them Pakistan’s cultural property, excavated illegally from Buddhist sites in Gandhara region and smuggled out in early 1980s.

“We have checked all the sculptures on the (Christie) website. It is difficult to ascertain the authenticity and origin of all the sculptures from the photographs but some definitely look original. They can be certified only after physical and scientific examination.

“Nonetheless, it is quite clear that all artifacts belong to the ancient Gandhara region of Pakistan,” said the official.

Relief works, heads, busts, figures and stupa basis made up the collection. It includes a 3rd century grey schist relief of
Buddha, price tag $182,500; a 7th/8th century bronze figure of seated Buddha from Swat Valley, price tag $122,500; a 4th/5th century Gandhara large stucco head of Buddha, starting auction price of $80,500, and a 2nd/3rd century grey schist figure of a pensive Buddha for going price of $68,500.

Other pricey relics in the collection include a 2nd/3rd century grey schist relief of Buddha and another grey schist head of Buddha from the same period for $30,000. Several more had the price starting from $2,000 upwards.

Pakistan is demanding that these artifacts be returned to the country of origin under UNESCO convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property 1970. It obliges UNESCO to take appropriate steps to recover and return any cultural property to its country of origin at the request of a State Party.

Toby Unsik of the Communications Department of Christie, responding to a Dawn e-mail said: “We take our responsibilities in relation to the sale of cultural property very seriously and abide strictly by the laws in the countries in which we operate.

We have invited the Pakistan authorities to provide us with full details of the grounds for any concerns they may have in relation to the sale of this lot and await hearing from them.”

He declined to comment further until Christie heard from the Pakistan government.

If this collection does return to Pakistan, it will be the second time that the country gets back its cultural property. The first time was when the USA returned a lot of more than 40 relics in 2008-09.

Thief Inside Buddhist Temple Caught On CCTV

With the start of the Christmas season, the Philippine National Police (PNP) expects a rise in the number of crimes against property.

PNP spokesperson Chief Superintendent Agrimero Cruz said syndicates take advantage of an increase in the volume of people in crowded places like malls and restaurants.

People also have more shopping money with them during "-ber" months, according to police.

Just last week, a thief struck at the Ocean Sky Monastery in San Juan.

The thief took cellphone units and wallets of students while they were in meditation class.

Based on footage of a closed circuit television (CCTV) camera in the Buddhist temple, a woman aged 20 to 25 years old was seen rummaging through cabinets and lockers where students left their bags while they were meditating in a separate room.

The suspect pretended to be one of the students involved in the meditation class and registered under an alias.

After surveying the different floors, she stayed for 5 minutes getting her loot from the lockers on the third floor.

She was later shown on the CCTV footage hurriedly leaving the room.

Police Officer 3 Marcelo Marinas said his investigation revealed that the temple had been under surveillance by a syndicate.

"Pag ganitong Christmas season kasi, walang sinasanto ang mga sindikato, kaya pati yung monasteryo hindi pinatawad," Marinas said.

He admitted that this was the first time they handled a case wherein a monastery was victimized by a thief.

San Juan police have sent a photo of the suspect to other law enforcement

Mother In The Dream

Just to share a video - a touching performance by a 12 year Mongolian boy

Buddhist Personality : Nic Jiang

Name : Chiang Hong En
Country : Taiwan
Date Of Birth : October 30, 1970
Height : 176cm
Profession : Actor