Buddha relics return to Yunju Temple

Two relics said to be from body of Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism, were returned to the Beijing Yunju Temple on Tuesday where they were first found.

The relics were welcomed by crowds, as they returned from an underground storage room at the Capital Museum.

The relics will be exhibited until July the 2nd in the biggest hall of the Yunju Temple, built in the Sui Dynasty more than 15-hundred years ago.

Buddha relics refer to the remains of Sakyamuni Buddha, founder of Buddhism who, according to legend, left bones and 84-thousand pearl-shaped relics.

The corn-shaped red Buddha body relics, discovered in the Leiyin Cave of the temple in 1981, are one of the "three precious" sets of relics in China. The others are Buddha teeth relics in Beijing's Lingguang Monastery and Buddha figure relics in the Famen Temple in Xi'an.