Stolen Buddha relics returned to Cambodia's mountaintop shrine

A golden urn containing relics of the Buddha, which was stolen in 2013 but since recovered, was returned to a mountaintop shrine here on Friday after it had been placed in Phnom Penh capital's Royal Palace for over two years.

The return of the relics to the stupa on the Oudong Mountain was made on the Visak Bochea Day, the holiest day in the Buddhist calendar commemorating the anniversary of Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death.

Great Supreme Patriarch Tep Vong, chief of the Mohanikaya Buddhist sect, and Supreme Patriarch Bour Kry, leader of the Dhammayut Buddhist sect, along with thousands of officials and laypeople, marched the relics back to the shrine in an elaborate ceremony.

Cults and Religion Ministry Undersecretary of State Seng Somony said security has been permanently strengthened at the stupa to avoid the repetition of theft.

"The number of security guards at the shrine has been increased about 10 times to ensure the safety of the relics," he told Xinhua.

The relics were stolen on Dec. 11, 2013 and were found three months later at the home of a looter in southern Takeo province. In the case, the authorities arrested five men, including four shrine security guards.

In August last year, the Kandal Provincial Court sentenced each of them to seven years in prison for theft of the golden urn containing Buddha relics.

Buddha relics are vital in terms of cultural and religious value for the Cambodian people since about 90 percent of the country's nearly 15 million people are Buddhists.

Cambodia's late King Norodom Sihanouk brought the relics from Sri Lanka to Cambodia in 1957 to mark the 2,500th anniversary of Buddha's birth.

In 2002, Sihanouk moved the relics from Phnom Penh capital to the mountaintop shrine, which is situated about 45 km north of the capital. Endit