9 Ancient Buddha Statues have Returned to Thailand After Being in Australia for 112 Years

(CTN News) – Nine wooden Buddha Statues that had spent 112 years in Australia have now been sent back to Thailand.

Murray Upton, an Australian living in Canberra, informed the Royal Thai Embassy that he had nine antique Buddha Statues from Thailand in his possession.

The Australian said that his father gave him the Buddha Statues. He claimed that his father had owned them since 1911.

According to Upton, his father worked as a surveyor and engineer for the Southern Siam Company, which constructed the Southern Railway in the province of Trang for the State Railway of Thailand in 1911.

Upton decided to return the sculptures to Thailand after realizing their worth by getting in touch with the Thai embassy in Canberra.

The transfer of the artifact back home was organized by the Fine Arts Department and Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The figures, which are 10 to 15 centimeters tall and made of wood, are believed to have been created in Trang by local artists, which fits with the period’s aesthetic trend.

Natthaphon Khanthahiran, the deputy permanent security of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, delivered the Buddha Statues to the Fine Arts Department today.

To determine the sculptures’ authenticity, age, and provenance, the Fine Arts Department will now have specialists study them.

The nine Buddha Statues will be displayed in the Central Treasury of the National Museum in the province of Pathum Thani.

Thanks to the efforts of the Department of Homeland Security, a 500-year-old golden Buddha crown was sent from the US to Thailand in June of last year.

The government established the bureau to trace artifacts smuggled out of the country around five years ago.

The Lanna-style crown is constructed of 95% pure gold and weighs roughly 42.6g. The crown was created to adorn a Buddha figure made of stone, a common custom used as a religious gift at the time.

A 500-year-old Buddhist stupa in Chiang Mai toppled in September, exposing many antique Buddhist artifacts and amulets. It was caught on camera at the time.

Numerous Buddha Statues and other treasures, some carved from stone and others made of glass, were discovered among the debris.

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