In India after 141 years, Buddha’s relics set for Lanka return today

The only documented authentic relics of the Buddha in Sri Lanka, the sacred Piprahwa relics are kept at Waskaduwa Viharaya in Sri Lanka’s Kalutara.

Written by Divya A

New Delhi | Updated: October 26, 2021 07:41 AM IST

4 min read

This marked the return of the relics to India after 141 years, after they were given to Sri Lanka as a token of friendship and gratitude. (Representational image)

As part of the 123-member Sri Lankan delegation led by Cabinet Minister Namal Rajapaksha that came on the inaugural flight between Colombo and Kushinagar, UP, on October 20 was a 12-member holy relic entourage. The only documented authentic relics of the Buddha in Sri Lanka, the sacred Piprahwa relics are kept at Waskaduwa Viharaya in Sri Lanka’s Kalutara.

During their stay in India, the relics have been accorded the status of state guest, says an official from the Ministry of Culture. On the Sri Lankan Airlines flight, the casket carrying the relics were accorded Seat 1A, which was covered with white cloth and elevated a little higher than the other passengers, as per the protocol note for the relics. The seat immediately next to the casket was allocated to Waskaduwa Mahanayake Thero. Upon arrival in Kushinagar, along with a special delegation from the International Buddhist Centre, UP chief Minister Yogi Adityanath received them, and escorted them to the car amid Sri Lankan cultural drumming. As per the specified protocol, all those receiving them were supposed to be dressed in white except for Yogi Adityanath, because he is in his saffron monk’s attire.

“I am grateful to head monk of Waskaduwa relics temple, Sri Lanka for bringing the relics to India,” said Union Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy, who also performed a ceremonial worship on the arrival of the Sacred Buddha relic from Sri Lanka on the occasion of Ashwin Poornima. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also offered his prayers to the Holy Relic in Kushinagar on Wednesday. At the venue, the relics were welcomed by a group of Mahayana monks, who also performed a puja.

This marks the return of the relics to India after 141 years, after they were given to Sri Lanka as a token of friendship and gratitude. In 1898, archaeologists from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) excavated a large mound in the estate of British landowner, William Claxton Peppe in Piprahwa, in Uttar Pradesh’s Siddharthnagar district. The site is 160 km from Kushinagar, the final resting place of Buddha, where he attained Mahaparinirvana after his death.

They found a big stone box, inside which there were some caskets. On one of them, these words were inscribed: ‘Iyang saleela nidhane Budhasa bhagawathe sakiyanan sukithi bahathanan sabhaginikathan sasunadalatha’. The then Subhuthi Mahanayake Thero of Waskaduwa Temple, who was helping the archaeological team, translated the text as: “this noble deed of depositing of Buddha’s relics were carried out by the brothers, the sisters and the children of Sakyas”. This is thus accepted as the authentic relics, as per a statement by the Ministry of Culture.

A part of these Buddha relics were sent to the King of Thailand and another part was sent to the King of Burma. Peppe handed another part of the relics, as a token of gratitude, to the Subhuthi Mahanayake Thero. Now, a part of the same relics embedded in three small lotuses, which are further encased in a crystal ball, kept in a casket measuring 30cm x 26.5 cm which is fixed on a wooden stand, have been brought to India for public exposition.

Exposition of The Buddha’s relics in each other’s countries is an important component of Buddhist ties. The Kapilvastu relics in India, have been taken out of India only six times in the past, were sent to Sri Lanka on two occasions – in 1978 and in 2012.

Divya A

Divya A reports on travel, tourism, culture and social issues - not necessarily in that order - for The Indian Express. She's been a journalist for over a decade now, working with Khaleej Times and The Times of India, before settling down at Express. Besides writing/ editing news reports, she indulges her pen to write short stories. As Sanskriti Prabha Dutt Fellow for Excellence in Journalism, she is researching on the lives of the children of sex workers in India. ... Read More

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