S’pore couple returns Buddha statue bought from Bhutan after learning about its 400-year history

Singaporean couple returns 400-year-old Buddha statue to Bhutan

In 2016, Singaporean couple Dr Tommy Ong and Ng Suh Yee bought a Buddha statue in a village in Bhutan.

Last year, they discovered the statue was around 400 years old and decided to return it to the kingdom.

The clay statue measures 34 centimeters high and 27 centimeters wide. It portrays the Buddha in the “Bhumisparsha” posture and it holds great importance to Bhutanese culture.

The statue was returned to the Kingdom of Bhutan this morning (8 May), according to an 8world News report.

Dates back to the 17th century

The couple bought the statue from Thimphu Village in Bhutan in 2016.

Last year, they had the statue undergo a complete thermoluminescence test, a process of determining the age of objects via the amount of radiation it has absorbed over time. This was conducted by Dr Ralf Kotalla, founder of Laboratory Kotalla in Germany.

The results revealed that the statue dates back to the 1620s and has a history of about 400 years.

Bhutanese statue returned

After over seven years, the statue was finally returned to the King of Bhutan through the Ambassador of Bhutan to Singapore and Thailand — Mr Kinzang Dorji

Venerable Seck Kwang Phing, Chairman of the Singapore Buddhist Federation, officiated the handover ceremony this morning at the federation’s headquarters in Geylang.

Also read: Workers In Thailand Find Ancient Buddha Statue Inside Tree They Cut Down

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Featured image adapted from Xu Kailing via 8world News on Facebook.