Buddha relics not mere artefacts but part of India’s revered heritage: PM Modi

These included Vietnam, Thailand and Russia, where waves of faith and devotion arose, and people turned up to pay homage in huge numbers, Modi said. Terming the presence of the relics in India as “highly inspiring”, the PM expressed hope that with the blessings of Lord Buddha, 2026 will usher in a new era of peace, prosperity, and harmony for the world.

PM Modi said the sacred relics were returning to India after more than 125 years at the intervention of the government and the Godrej Group, which together stopped them from being auctioned off in Hong Kong last May.

“For India, the sacred relics of Bhagwan Buddha are not merely artefacts; they are a part of our revered heritage and an inseparable part of our civilisation,” the PM said at the event in the presence of Buddhist scholars, diplomats and other dignitaries.

“India is not only the custodian of Lord Buddha’s sacred relics but also the living carrier of his tradition,” he said.

Discovered in 1898, the Piprahwa relics hold a central place in the archaeological study of early Buddhism and are among the earliest and most historically significant relic deposits directly connected to Buddha. Archaeological evidence associates the Piprahwa site with ancient Kapilavastu, widely identified as the place where Buddha spent his early life prior to renunciation.

On a personal note, Modi said his birthplace Vadnagar was a major centre of Buddhist studies while Sarnath, where Buddha delivered his first sermon, was situated near Varanasi, which is the PM’s “karmabhoomi” – a reference to the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat he represents.

Modi said before being in government, he travelled as a pilgrim to Buddhist sites, and as PM, has had the privilege of visiting Buddhist pilgrimage centres across the world.

He recalled his visits to Lumbini in Nepal, To-ji Temple and Kinkaku-ji in Japan, Giant Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi’an, China, and the Gandan Monastery in Mongolia.

While his visit to Jaya Sri Mahabodhi in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, was an experience of connecting with the tradition sown by Emperor Ashoka, Bhikkhu Mahinda, and Sanghamitra, travelling to Wat Pho in Thailand and the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple in Singapore further deepened his understanding of the impact of Lord Buddha’s teachings, Modi said.
“One can imagine the profound message for humanity when a Bodhi tree stands in the botanical garden of Hiroshima, a city devastated by the atomic bomb,” he said.

The PM said his government was making efforts to ensure that Buddhist heritage reaches the next generations in a natural way, adding that the Global Buddhist Summit and international events like Vesak and Ashadha Purnima were driven by this very thought.

Modi said his government had granted classical language status to Pali to make the language in which the Buddha delivered his sermons more accessible to the people.

“This will make it easier to understand and explain the Dhamma in its original essence and also strengthen research connected to the Buddhist tradition,” he said.