March 20, 2018 - This is a great story. This is ‘The Golden Buddha’ of the Wat Traimit Temple. They call him that because unlike other Buddhas we have shown you, this one is solid gold! He is almost 10 feet tall and weighs 5 1/2 tons.
Now here is where the story goes off the rails. No one knows exactly when it was made. It was believed to have been made in the 13th-14th century. Local rulers became concerned that their treasure might be taken by some rogue so they came up with a clever idea to cover it in plaster and make it look like an ordinary Buddha.
Time went on and they forgot what they did! Then, on May 22, 1955 some workers were moving the mundane Buddha and dropped it. Some plaster fell off revealing the treasure beneath!
“I always thought that was a really heavy Buddha”, a local was reported to have said.
The treasure was restored to it’s current glory. Estimated value in gold around 100 million dollars.
Tomorrow we will have a tale to tell. We have been told to bring a swimsuit and A LOT of insect repellent.
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