Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate today in the national capital a grand display of Piprahwa’s sacred relics, which includes bone fragments believed to be from the Buddha, a sandstone chest and gifts such as ornaments and gems that were unearthed in northern India in the late 19th century.
Titled “Light and Lotus: Relics of the Awakened”, it has been hosted at the Rai Pithora Cultural Complex in New Delhi for several months.
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PM Modi shared glimpses of Piprahwa Grand International Exhibition of Sacred Relics in Delhi on Firday and invited all culture and Buddhism enthusiasts to come to this exhibition.
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After the discovery of the relics in Piprahwa (in present-day Uttar Pradesh) by William Claxton Peppe in 1898, portions were distributed around the world, with some donated to the king of Siam (now Thailand), others taken to England and some kept in the Indian Museum in Calcutta (now Calcutta), the Ministry of Culture said.
A selection of relics kept by Peppe’s descendants – of British origin – was put up for auction at Hong Kong Sotheby’s on May 7 last year.
However, the auction was halted and the relics returned to India in 2025 through “resolute action by the ministry, supported by Buddhist communities worldwide, it said. Now, the ministry is holding a major exhibition featuring Piprahwa’s relics, including reliquaries and gem relics.”
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The exhibition highlights India’s role as the birthplace of Buddhism and strengthens its position as a global spiritual and cultural leader, the ministry said.
“India’s global engagement increasingly draws on its civilizational and spiritual heritage. As many as 642 antiquities have been repatriated to India, with the return of the Piprahwa relics a landmark achievement,” the ministry said.
“The exhibition will be open to the public from January 4 and will continue for several months,” a senior official told PTI.
These relics were originally discovered in Piprahwa. Most of these relics were transferred to the Indian Museum in Calcutta in 1899 and classified as “AA” antiquities under Indian law, which the ministry said prohibits their removal or sale.
The Piprahwa relics are believed to be associated with the mortal remains of the Buddha preserved by the Sakya clan, officials said. An inscription in Brahmi script on one of the caskets confirms it as the remains of the Buddha deposited by the clan, they said.
The return of the Piprahwa relics represents a significant achievement for India’s global engagement with its spiritual heritage.
For the first time since the excavations in 1898, the exhibit brings together relics from the original dig, treasures from the 1972 excavation, reliquaries and gems from the Indian Museum, recently repatriated relics from the Peppe family collection and “a monolithic stone chest in which the gems and reliquaries were originally found,” the ministry said.
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The inauguration ceremony will also be attended by Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, various ambassadors and other members of the diplomatic corps, respected Buddhist monks, senior government officials, scholars, heritage experts, several members of the art fraternity, art supporters, followers of Buddhism and many students.
Preserved by his followers around the 3rd century BC, these relics have long held immense spiritual value to the global Buddhist community and represent one of the most important archaeological discoveries in Indian history.
