NANJING, April 14 -- A pagoda dedicated to the sarira, or the relics, of famous Chinese monk Xuanzang, in east China's Jiangsu Province will be renovated, local authorities confirmed on Tuesday.

The pagoda was named Sanzang after the legendary Buddhist monk and translator, whose 17-year journey to India inspired the classic novel "Journey to the West".

The structure was re-built in 1944, after the original was destroyed during the chaos caused by war of the 1850s.

In 1942, the Japanese army unearthed a stone box that contained Xuanzang's skull and bead-shaped objects said to have been collected from the cremated ashes of the Buddhist master.

The Japanese took some of the relics, with some given to the Chinese after protest.

A five-story pagoda was built dedicated to the relics. According to Chuanzhen, abbot of the Xuanzang Temple where the pagoda stands, it has been battered by the weather over the last seven decades.

"We will clear the gravel and paint on a protective coating," he said, adding that the renovation will take two months.

Xuanzang, who was born as Chen in 602, brought many Buddhist texts, statues and sarira relics from his time in India.

His remains are in many temples, including those in Japan and India.