From the bizarre insides of a garden gnome
to a remarkable 1,000-year-old discovery, here are the 8 most fascinating statue findings Number 8 Pete the Gnome
Tennessee woman Heather Andrews had already described garden gnomes as “creepy”. Therefore, it was only fitting that a friend
of hers would sometimes gift her with such statues, as a joke. At one point in 2014, she accidentally broke
one of the gnomes and found something rather disturbing inside. Beneath the cracks she discovered another
statue which had the head of Jesus Christ on the body of a robe-cloaked woman. Andrews tried to find an explanation but no
one at Target, where the gnome was purchased, or at the Chinese factory, where it was made,
knew anything about it. She even made a Facebook page for the gnome,
nicknamed “Pete”, in hopes that people online would give her some answers. In time, Pete attracted thousands of followers,
some of whom had troubling comments about the Jesus statue. They claimed it was sacrilegious, that it
would bring bad luck and that it was evidence of satanic rituals. Some asked to come see the statue and others
would even call Andrews at her workplace. To rid herself of the negative attention,
she listed Pete, for sale on EBay. Number 7 Old Banknote
While working with a wooden statue of a Chinese Buddha, Australian art experts found a banknote
inside its hollowed head. The discovery was made in 2016, while the
piece was being prepped for auction. The banknote was larger and stranger than
present-day bills. According to the writings on it, citizens
were advised to report counterfeiters, for whom the punishment was death by decapitation. The bill and the Buddha statue went on display
in Melbourne, London and Hong Kong prior to being auctioned off. Quiz Question
Before we continue with our list, answer this question. How old was the banknote found inside the
wooden Buddha statue? Was it
350 400
500 Over 600 years old
Let us know what you think in the comments section below and stay tuned to find out the
right answer. Number 6 Letters Inside a Jesus Statue
In St. Agueda, Spain, a preservationist discovered two letters inside a 200-year-old Jesus statue. They’d been written in 1777 by a clergyman
from the Burgo de Osma Cathedral, named Joaquin Minguez. The letters offered a detailed description
of life in the region at the time. The clergyman wrote about the harvest, popular
pastimes, common diseases, community affairs and also listed the names of popular bullfighters
of the time. The message from the past also featured information
about Manuel Bal, the artist who’d created the statue, and about King Carlos III, who
ruled Spain at the time. The carefully handwritten documents were found
inside the statue’s buttocks. Based on the abundant information they revealed,
it’s quite clear that Minguez had purposefully created one of history’s earliest time capsules. Number 5 Confederate Time Capsule
During the American Civil War, Johnny Reb was the symbolic image of the Confederate
soldier. In Orlando, Florida, a statue dating back
more than a century revealed a Confederate time capsule as it was being relocated. Nicknamed “Johnny Reb”, the statue of
the Confederate soldier caused public outcry because many saw it as a symbol of racism,
oppression and white supremacy. A decision was made in 2017 to move the 800-pound
statue to a historic cemetery, where 37 Confederate soldiers were buried. During removal, a metal box was found at the
base of the statue. It contained newspaper clippings, Confederate
flags and Confederate bills. The items were placed in bags and sent to
the Orange County Regional History Center. Number 4 Drugs
As law enforcement develops new techniques and technologies for detecting suspicious
packages, drug smugglers are forced to adapt. While hiding illegal substances inside of
statues isn’t anything new, it seems that another method has taken shape in recent years. Rather than placing the drugs inside, smugglers
are embedding them into the statue’s structure to increase their chances of avoiding detection. Cocaine, for example, is mixed with other
substances so that it can be molded. In 2010, a replica of the World Cup soccer
trophy was recovered by Colombian police just as it was about to leave Bogota airport. They discovered that it had been crafted using
24 pounds of cocaine. This definitely beats drug smugglers from
Argentina, who didn’t go through all that trouble, in 2018. They simply hid marijuana, cocaine and crack-cocaine
doses inside common World Cup replicas. Number 3 Golden Buddha
The Golden Buddha statue has had an incredible journey from being forgotten to being considered
one of mankind’s most impressive sculptures. In 1955, in Thailand, a group of construction
workers were moving a statue of Buddha to a new building. It had been kept under a simple tin roof for
roughly 2 decades as the temple, at the time, wasn’t big enough to house it. As they were positioning the statue on the
pedestal, the ropes snapped and it fell hard on the ground. A piece of the plaster covering it cracked
and gold started to shine through. The works were stopped and the rest of the
plaster was carefully removed. Beyond the appearance of an ordinary statue
was the masterpiece’s true nature-a 9ft 8 tall, 5.5 ton heavy statue of Buddha, made
entirely out of gold. The masterfully-crafted statue consisted of
9 pieces that fit smoothly together, most likely so transportation would be easier. Inside the plaster there was also a key that
could be used to disassemble the structure. Judging by the egg-shaped head and the style
of the statue, it had most likely been cast in India at some point during the 13th or
14th century. Then, in the 18th century, at the time of
the Burmese-Siamese War, it was covered in plaster. This was done to hide its true value so that
it would be safe from Burmese invaders. The plan worked, almost too well. For two centuries the Golden Buddha was forgotten
as the world saw only the plaster that covered it. The discovery was made very close to the commemoration
of 2,500 years since Gautama Buddha’s passing. As a result, many Buddhists regarded the find
as miraculous. As of the making of this video, the statue
rests at the Wat Traimit Temple, in Bangkok. It’s the world’s largest solid gold statue
and, while it’s generally considered to be priceless, it’s value in terms of gold
weight is estimated at a quarter of a billion dollars. Quiz Answer
So, how old was the banknote found inside the Buddha statue? If you chose d, over 600 years old, then you’re
right. The bill dates back to 1370, during the reign
of the Hongwu Emperor, the first emperor of the Ming dynasty. It’s one of the oldest banknotes in the
world, created at a time when Europeans were still only using coins. Its value during that period was equivalent
to an ounce of silver or 1,000 copper coins. Number 2 Human Teeth
For a long time, nobody in the Mexican parish of San Bartolo Cuautlalpan knew there was
more to one of their wooden Jesus statues. The Christ of Patience depicts the seated,
bloodied Messiah, gazing off into the distance and seemingly gasping for air. It’s a realistic depiction of suffering
with a macabre twist. The statue is roughly 300 years old and, in
2014, a team of specialists took it for restoration. That’s when they discovered something behind
the statue’s tormented face. They found that eight of its teeth had actually
come from an adult human being. An X-Ray revealed the teeth, which were in
perfect condition, and their position inside the statue’s mouth. It wasn’t an uncommon practice, at the time
of the statue’s creation, for religious people to donate parts of their body to the
church. While there was a technique of making fake
teeth for statues out of animal bone, this was the first find where actual human teeth
had been used by the sculptor. Number 1 Mummified Monk
Some decades ago, a Dutch private collector bought an old statue of Buddha on the art
market. In the 1990s, as the piece underwent restoration,
an incredible discovery was made. Inside the statue were the perfectly preserved
1,000 –year-old remains of a Buddhist monk sitting in the lotus position. In an act of extreme devotion to spiritual
enlightenment, the man had put himself through the excruciating process of self-mummification. The Japanese term for this practice is Sokushinbutsu. It can last from 3,000 days to ten years,
during which the monk essentially becomes a living mummy. It’s a tormenting process of asceticism
that requires unbelievable discipline and sacrifice. In the early stages, the monk begins what’s
translated as “eating the tree”. This means that he’ll only consume resins,
seeds and pine needles found in the mountains, thus eliminating all the fat from his body. The periods of fasting and meditation gradually
become longer, leading to starvation. Then the monk stops consuming water, which
shrinks his organs and dehydrates his body. He dies in a trance-like state of meditation,
usually while chanting a mantra about Buddha. Because the body was drained of all its resourses,
it becomes naturally preserved without decay or the need for artificial intervention. The mummy is then put on display inside the
temple where it’s revered and venerated by Buddhist practitioners. While other Sokushinbutsu mummies have been
discovered, a monk found inside a statue is believed to be a unique occurrence. Researchers have determined that the body
had been on display in a Chinese or Tibetan temple for two centuries before it was encased
in the statue, for further preservation. Thanks for watching! Which statue finding fascinated you the most? Let us know in the comments section below!
OMG the Buddha statue and the mummified monk stories are amazing.