Buddhist amulets contain infant remains

A THAI Buddhist temple has been reprimanded by religious authorities for selling amulets containing the ashes of cremated infants to raise money for a plot of land and a crematorium, an official said yesterday.

The bodies of 28 foetuses or infants who died of natural causes were cremated legally at the temple’s ageing incinerator, they said, as Thailand’s craze for Jatukam Ramathep amulets promising wealth showed no signs of easing.

“It is not illegal, but it is inappropriate,” said an official of the local office of Buddhism.