Bronze Sarira Box

This Bronze Sarira Box was unearthed from the Site of Sarira Pagoda in Kaiyuan Temple, Guilin in 1999. Sarira generally refers to the bones, hair and other remains of Buddha and eminent monks after death. It is believed in Buddhism that sarira is the evidence to prove the success of eminent monks in achieving immortality, which is thus highly respected by Buddhists. A sarira box is where the Buddhist relics are kept. This square sarira box has fence-styled holes for souls to get in. Several bronze coins contained in the box and a small glass vessel carrying sarira of an eminent monk were also unearthed along with the box.