"Nobody has come forward with proof or evidence or facts," he said, adding that the very existence of a golden Buddha was in doubt.

"If there was a golden Buddha, and this guy found it, that would have happened to him," he said.

A huge golden Buddha looks serenely down on the shoot.

It is a high-ceilinged spacious room dominated by a large golden Buddha.

Roxas said he sold seven of the gold bars from the opened box, and sought potential buyers for the golden Buddha.

Pilgrims, here for a purification ritual, took turns sitting near a life-size golden Buddha.

On February 28, 2000, the trial court conducted a hearing to determine the value of the golden buddha and the 17 bars of gold.

Jose also declared in court that his father never found a golden Buddha.

When these were pulled apart, out rolled the golden Buddhas.

This surreptitious clinch occurs in the family shrine before a large golden Buddha.