Man who stole mummified monk remains
is finally jailed
The Siberian Times 21 May 2015
Taken from his mountain grave in Mongolia,
the body of Tsorzh Sanzhzhav had been destined for the black
market.
The thief who stole the mummy of the
Mongolian monk found in the lotus position has been jailed for six
months.
D Enkhter took the remains in October last
year from Sodnomdarzhaa Mountain, 50km from Tsakhir in the
Arkhangai district, and hid it. He was only caught three months
later when he tried to sell it for 300million tugriks (7million
roubles/$155,000).
No details on his prosecution have emerged
from Mongolia but it is known he was sentenced according to Article
129.1 of the Criminal Code, for destroying the grave.
It comes as the Mongolian government
announces that it plans to allocate 164million tugriks (4million
roubles/$84,000) to return the monk’s body to his burial
place.
The remains of Tsorzh Sanzhzhav, who was
born about 200 years ago, are being kept and restored in Gandan
Monastery in Ulaanbaatar, but will soon go back to the mountain.
There are hopes that one day a temple can be built above the grave
to allow pilgrims and tourists to visit and pray.
Tsorzh Sanzhzhav was a disciple of one of
the greatest Buddhist teachers that ever lived and had been buried
alongside his elder master.
He was a student of His Holiness Incarnate
Ovgon Geser Lama, who is revered in the region and whose grave is
visited annually by pilgrims wishing to pray.
But his identity became known around the
world when his body was taken from that final resting place, in a
mountain cave, and was destined for sale on the black
market.
There had been speculation that the monk
was not dead and was instead in 'very deep meditation' in a special
spiritual state known as tukdam. But that was subsequently proved
to be unfounded.
