A Buddhist temple in Nanjing, China has yielded a parietal bone believed to be that of the sage Siddhartha Gautama Buddha who died either in 544 or 545 BCE.

Archaeologists said the bone was discovered inside a gold chest in a 1,000 year-old Buddhist meditation shrine beneath the Grand Bao'en Temple in Nanjing. Engravings say the skull belonged to Siddhartha Gautama.

Like Us on Facebook

When they opened the stone chest, archaeologists discovered an ornate shrine called a stupa. Inscriptions carved into the stone chest explain how Buddha's skull bone came to lie in the golden chest.

Stupas are mound-like structures containing relics, usually the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns. They are also used as places of meditation.

Archaeologists describe the box as 117 cm tall and 45 cm wide. The box is made from sandalwood and is encased in gold and silver on which jewels are embedded.

It is almost certain the skull fragment might be that of the Buddha who was cremated upon his death. There are, however, conflicting accounts as to the fate of the Buddha's cremated remains.

One account claims the Buddha was cremated at the Hirannavati River and his remains were divided into thousands of portions by the ruling king of the time. At least 19 of the Buddha's remains are believed to have found their way to China. One of these fragments is apparently the parietal bone in Nanjing.

Another account says Buddha's cremated remains were divided among eight royal families and his disciples. These remains were enshrined by the Indian emperor Ashoka into 84,000 stupas centuries later.

Buddhism originated in India and from here spread throughout much of Asia. There are an estimated 530 million Buddhists worldwide, making Buddhism one of the world's major religions.

TagsBuddha, Nanjing, Grand Bao'en Temple, Siddhartha Gautama Buddha