Mystery Surrounds Missing Hair of Ancient Japanese Buddha Statue

According to the Miirror, Academics in Japan are scratching their heads after it emerged an ancient Buddha statue has lost half of its hair. The 1,200-year-old Great Buddha of Nara , based at Todaiji Temple, is a 49-foot tall statue that is described in ancient documents as having 966 curls on its bronze head. But a recent investigation has discovered that the Buddha somehow has suffered extensive hair loss and only has 492 curls.

Each ‘curl’ – known as ‘rahotsu’ – on the famed statue measures nearly nine inches in diameter, eight inches in height and weighs 2.6lbs. The revelation over the missing hair comes after visitors speculated over the number of curls on the Buddha’s head. The temple then asked researchers to look into how many curls there actually were.

Researchers had to use laser scanners to count the curls as a large part of the Buddha’s head is covered by a gold plate that it sits in front of. Following an in-depth 3D analysis of the statue’s head the researchers came to the surprising conclusion that there were just 483 curls on the head, plus a further nine that were missing. That leaves 474 curls unaccounted for.

Academics have speculated that the discrepancy in the number of hair curls may have come about after the Buddha was rebuilt throughout its history. Meanwhile, the temple described the curl conundrum as a “mystery to this day.”  What do you think? Let us know in the comments section further down this page, thanks.

-WeirdlyStrange.Com