| The Belly Button of Buddha | |
|---|---|
 The belly button on the sundial. | |
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Production Number |
1-23 (23) |
|
Airdate |
December 11, 1993 |
|
Team |
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|
Contestants |
Jennifer (aka "Ricochet") & Tony |
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Artifact Location |
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|
2 | |
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Temple Layout |
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Previous Episode |
The Golden Chains of Zēnobía (Production Order) |
|
Next Episode |
The Golden Cup of Belshazzar (Broadcast Order) |
The Belly Button of Buddha is the 23rd episode of Legends of the Hidden Temple.
Moat Crossing
One player of each team paddled across the moat on a raft. Once across, he would tie the rope (which was connected to the raft) off to a post; the second player would then use that rope and the higher, knotted rope to traverse the moat. Once both players were across, they could hit the gong.
| Moat Results | ||
|---|---|---|
| Place | Team | Time |
| 1st | Blue Barracudas | 0:36 |
| 2nd | Green Monkeys | 0:39 |
| 3rd | Silver Snakes | 1:10 |
| 4th | Red Jaguars | 1:14 |
Steps of Knowledge
Towering over Rangoon, the capital city of ancient Burma, is a great temple called the Shwedagon Pagoda. The pagoda is covered with over two tons of gold and over six thousand jewels, including a giant 73-karat diamond at the top of its tower. It also has thousands of bells: tiny tinkling ones, and one that weighs twenty-three tons. Inside the pagoda was a giant statue of Buddha, with a large jade belly button. In 1824, the British stormed the pagoda, and the soldiers made off with the Belly Button of Buddha and the great bell. The bell sank in the river as they tried to float it away. The Burmese later lifted it out of the river, but the Belly Button of Buddha vanished completely…until now.
| Steps of Knowledge Results | ||
|---|---|---|
| Question | Answers | Team |
| Is the Shwedagon Pagoda in…? |
|
Blue Barracudas (Correct - 2 steps left) |
| Is the Shwedagon Pagoda dedicated to…? |
|
Green Monkeys (Correct - 2 steps left) |
| Is the Shwedagon Pagoda covered with…? |
|
Blue Barracudas (Correct - 1 step left) |
| Is a pagoda…? |
|
Red Jaguars (Correct - 2 steps left) |
| Which of these tops the Shwedagon Pagoda? |
|
Blue Barracudas (Correct - Advanced to Temple Games) |
| Which of these European countries invaded Burma in the 1800s? |
|
Green Monkeys (Correct - 1 step left) |
| The Burmese floated the great bell by attaching a huge number of poles to it. Were they made of…? |
|
Red Jaguars (Correct - 1 step left) |
| If you lived in Rangoon, Would you most be affected by…? |
|
Red Jaguars (Correct - Advanced to Temple Games) |
Temple Games
The Blue Barracudas are 11-year-old Jennifer, who is nicknamed "Ricochet" as she bounces all over the place (she is a gymnast), and 12-year-old Tony, who wants to be a cartoonist as he likes to draw. The Red Jaguars are 13-year-old Rayme, who collects sports cards (has 2000 of them), and 11-year-old Katherine, who collects porcelain dolls (Madame Alexanders - has 13).
Bells of the Stupa (Climbing Wall)
Jennifer and Rayme had to climb up the wall and hang bells on velcro straps. The Red Jaguars took the early lead, with some nice transitions from side to side, but wound up in a tie with the Blue Barracudas. Both teams received a half pendant.
Pilgrims to the Shwedagon Pagoda (Bungee Soap Ramp)
Tony and Katherine had to climb up the ramp and attach a piece of gold foil to a felt pad, slide back down and try to pull themselves up again. The event started off neck and neck to the top of the ramp. When the bungee cords finally began to get taut, both Tony and Katherine began to have trouble. With much effort, Tony managed to stretch his cord out enough to reach the top hand grip. He then made a dive and managed to stick one piece of gold cloth on the pad. Katherine is still struggling to pull herself up and suddenly lost her grip and slid back down. By that point, Tony was almost back up. Unfortunately, the soap on his knee pads and the ramp plus the bungee cord and being tired from the first trip up all take their toll and he was unable to get up to the second to last hand grip strap. He began to slide backward and wound up on his back. He struggled to get back on his knees, but eventually gave up and slid down the ramp. Katherine had caught up but gets hung up on the third to last hand grip. She eventually gives up and slides back down as time runs out. Tony gets the half pendant for the Blue Barracudas.
Shrine to the Buddha (Pulley Pillar)
The players had to work together - one had to go down while the other had to go up to attach jewels to the Buddha. The Red Jaguars got hung up in the transition, letting the Blue Barracudas take the lead. The Red Jaguars got hung up, which gave the Blue Barracudas a chance to extend their lead. Ultimately the Blue Barracudas won game the full pendant after attaching 7 while the Jaguars was only able attach 4.
| Temple Games Results | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Pendants Won |
| Red Jaguars | Tied | Lost | Lost | ½ Pendant |
| Blue Barracudas | Tied | Won | Won | 2 Pendants |
Temple Run
Jennifer went into the Temple first, and while she may not have been the fastest contestant, she had a strategy that was very innovative, considering how early in the show this episode was. Choosing the Cave of Sighs as her starting point, she confidently made it across the bottom floor to the Bamboo Forest and did not try to proceed upward until she was beyond the central shaft. She hesitated a little the Bamboo Forest, however, and tried to go up into the Treasure Room via one of the corner doors. When that did not work, she passed into the Tomb of the Ancient Kings, quickly found the key and progressed upward into the Shrine of the Silver Monkey.
After assembling the monkey, Jennifer accidentally went into the Room of Three Torches, but realized her mistake and went into the Treasure Room, where a Temple Guard finally captured her with less than a minute to go. A bit distracted, she stalled a little while until she realized she did not need to open the treasure chest to open any doors leading out of the room.
She made it up the final set of stairs to the Belly Button in the Observatory, grabbed it with 27 seconds to go and made it out of the Temple sixteen seconds later.
| Temple Run Results | |
|---|---|
| Victory | Yes (Solo - 0:11 left) |
| Reached the Artifact | Yes |
| Temple Guard Locations | |
Watch Episode
Trivia
- Jennifer's encounter with the Temple Guard in the Treasure Room with 0:53 left was the latest encounter with the first guard in Legends history.
- This episode features the first solo victory with two full pendants. The second and last was the The Milk Bucket of Freydís. Coincidentally, Both runners would enter the same rooms en route to their respective artifacts.