NEWS

Buddha Statue Returned to Sri Lanka by British Family after 100 Years

By Justin Whitaker | | Buddhistdoor Global

Rev. Kenneth Bell, with his daughter Fiona, accompanied the return of an important Buddha statue to Sri Dalada Maligwa (Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic), in Kandy, Sri Lanka, on 17 December. The grandson of British archeologist and explorer Harry Charles Purvis Bell—better known as HCP Bell (1851–1937)—returned the statue to Sri Lanka after it had been in the family’s possession for a century. “It is a far better thing that I do than I have ever done before,” said Rev. Bell, quoting Charles Dickens from A Tale of Two Cities. (The Sunday Times)

The Buddha statue, a 14-centimeter-tall wooden sculpture, was taken from an archeological site in 1919 by HCP Bell, who achieved renown as as the “father of archaeology” in Sri Lanka. Bell served as the first commissioner of archeology of Sri Lanka (then called Ceylon) from 1890–1912, and continued his work into retirement, passing away in Sri Lanka in 1937. The robe and head ornamentation on the Buddha suggest that the statue is likely to date to the Kandyan Period (15th–19th century). During his time in Sri Lanka, according to family lore, Bell was gifted the small wooden sculpture by a monk at the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic. “They handed this little statue over, which he then gave to my grandmother as an engagement present,” Rev. Kenneth Bell’s daughter, Fiona, told the BBC. After nearly 100 years in the family’s possession, the Bell family decided it was time to return the sculpture to its historical owners. Members of the family traveled to Sri Lanka from their homes in Hampshire, England, in December to take part in a ceremony marking its return.