National museum questioned after Buddhist statues' hands go missing

The National Museum of Korea's artifact management has been questioned following a local temple's claim that the hands of two cast iron Buddhist statues — one Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva and the other Sakyamuni Buddha — have gone missing.

Two Buddhist statues with their hands missing at the National Museum of Korea in Yongsan District, central Seoul [YONHAP/HEUNGLYONG TEMPLE]

The National Museum of Korea's artifact management has been questioned following a local temple's claim that the hands of two cast iron Buddhist statues have gone missing under the museum's care.

"The two Buddhist statues are important religious artifacts, and the fact that the hands are missing is incredibly regretful," said Heunglyong Temple in Pocheon, Gyeonggi, on Tuesday. The temple said it has requested "a clear explanation from the museum and if the museum has been derelict about the statues' management." It has not yet received a response.

Some Buddha statues, like the Unfinished Buddha in Indonesia, were intentionally created without certain body parts, including hands. This, however, isn't the case for the two statues.

According to Heunglyong Temple, the statues, dating back to the late Silla Dynasty (57 B.C. to A.D. 935), were excavated on the grounds of its temple in 1924 and were kept there until the following year when the Japanese government in Korea, during colonial rule (1910-1945), took them to the Joseon Government-General Museum inside Gyeongbok Palace.

The temple said a document written by the Joseon Government-General at the time states "four fingers of the right hand of the Sakyamuni Buddha and the right thumb of the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva have been damaged." But when it checked the statues at the National Museum of Korea last month, all their hands were missing from the wrists.

Heunglyong Temple is currently taking procedures to repatriate the statues to the temple.

A 1924 photo of the statues taken after being excavated at Heunglyong Temple in Pocheon, Gyeonggi, show the Buddhist statues with intact hands [YONHAP/HEUNGLYONG TEMPLE]

The two statues are currently part of the museum's collection since being transferred from the Joseon Government-General Museum.

The museum has so far given a simple statement, saying that it is unsure when the hands were cut off, but that much of the damage to the relics took place during Japanese colonial rule or the Korean War (1950-53).

BY LEE JIAN [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]