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Buddha relics to be taken to Mongolia, Rijiju to lead team www.indiaexpress.com
In a unique gesture, four Holy Relics of Lord Buddha are being taken to Mongolia for an exposition as part of Mongolian Buddha Purnima celebrations on June 14.
A 25-member delegation, led by Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, will accompany the relics on their journey, starting Monday.
The relics will be displayed at Batsagaan Temple, within the premises of Gandan Monastery, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited in 2015.
The four relics come from among 22 Buddha relics, currently housed at the National Museum in Delhi, and known as the ‘Kapilvastu Relics’ since they are from a site in Bihar believed to be the ancient city of Kapilvastu. They were discovered in 1898.
During the 11-day visit, Union Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy said, the relics will be accorded the status of a State Guest in Mongolia and will be taken in the same climate-controlled case as it has been kept presently at the National Museum.
The Indian Air Force has made available a special airplane — C-17 GlobeMaster — to carry the holy relics, which will be received in Mongolia by the country’s Culture Minister, the adviser to the country’s President, and a group of monks. The Buddha Relics available in Mongolia would also be displayed along with the relics from India, it was informed.
The last time these relics were taken out of the country was in 2012, when their exposition was held in Sri Lanka. In 2015, the Holy Relics were placed under ‘AA’ category of antiquities and art treasures that should not be ordinarily taken out of the country for exhibition, considering their delicate nature.
Reddy said New Delhi made an exception and permitted the exposition of Holy Relics in Mongolia on request of Ulaanbaatar.
Calling it a milestone in India-Mongolia relations, Rijiju said this will further boost cultural and spiritual relations between the countries.
The relics were discovered from Piprahwa, in UP’s Siddharthnagar district, believed to be a part of the ancient city of Kapilavastu. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) had conducted excavations at Piprahwa between 1971 and 1977, wherein they discovered two inscribed steatite stone caskets containing 12 sacred relics from the bigger casket and 10 sacred relics from the smaller casket. The inscription on the lid of the casket refers to the relics of the Buddha and the Shakya clan. These are believed to be the sacred relics of the Buddha and are now on long-term loan from ASI to the National Museum, New Delhi.
In October last year, during the inauguration of the international airport at Kushinagar (the final resting place of the Buddha), sacred relics from Sri Lanka were also part of the delegation that had landed at Kushinagar on the inaugural flight from Colombo. Exposition of Buddha’s relics in each other’s countries is an important component of Buddhist ties.
The Kapilvastu relics have been taken out of India only six times in the past. Rijiju said Mongolia and India look upon each other as spiritual and cultural neighbours and “Mongolia can also be said to be our ‘Third Neighbour’, even though we don’t enjoy any common physical boundaries”.
Published Date:2022-06-12
