http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/worl … 134444.cms

The Siberian Times/Morning Newspaper Mongolia It has been suggested the mummified monk was a teacher of the Buryat Buddhist Lama Dashi-Dorzho Itigilov, who was born in 1852, and was reported to have died in 1927 while meditating.

It is understood the body was reburied in a coffin packed with salt and left until 2002 when it was once again exhumed, 75 years after Itigilov's death. (Photo courtesy: The Siberian Times/Morning Newspaper Mongolia)

When his body was examined by Buddhist monks in 1955 and again in 1973, Itigilov apparently remained in the lotus position and his body did not appear to show signs of decay.

It is understood the body was reburied in a coffin packed with salt and left until 2002 when it was once again exhumed, 75 years after Itigilov's death.

According to a 2002 report in the The New York Times, a dozen witnesses were on hand to see the body had remained preserved.

Vladislav L. Kozeltsev, an expert at the Centre for Biomedical Technologies, told the paper the preservation of the body may have been due to a defect in a gene in Itigilov's body which hastened the decomposition of cells after death.

He said while the salt in the coffin may have played a part in slowing decay, other factors may have included the soil and the coffin's condition, adding the possibility of "some secret process of embalming" could not be ruled out.