Context:
The Ministry of Culture is planning to exhibit the sacred relics of Lord Buddha, which were deposited by the Sakyas his kinsmen and discovered in a stupa attributed to Emperor Ashoka.
More on News:
- A crystal casket to be over 2,300 years old was discovered in 1898 during an excavation at Piprahwa (ancient Kapilavastu) in Uttar Pradesh, along with four other caskets.
- The crystal casket features a fish-shaped knob (measuring 5 cm by 10 cm) adorned with precious gems and gold leaves.
- Another casket, discovered inside a stone coffer buried 18 feet underground, bears a Brahmi inscription that roughly translates to: “This casket containing the relics of Lord Buddha was donated by the Sukirti brothers, together with their sisters, sons, and wives, all members of the Sakya clan.”
- These sacred Buddhist relics from the 3rd century BCE including the five caskets.
- The sandstone coffer, and 221 gems and jewels were securely housed in the vaults of the Indian Museum in Kolkata for more than 127 years.
- Historical records show that in January 1898, William Claxton Peppe, the son of a British estate manager, excavated a mound in the Birdpur Estate and uncovered an 18-foot-deep shaft. At its base, he discovered a sandstone coffer containing sacred relics, including bones and ashes.
- The Viceroy of India, Lord Elgin II, gifted the bone relics to King Rama V of Siam (Thailand), while the coffer, caskets, and other relics remained in India.
- These items were placed under the custody of the Indian Museum, Kolkata in 1899.
- The Indian Museum classifies these relics as ‘AA’ category antiquities, meaning they hold exceptional cultural, historical, and religious value and cannot be sold or exported under Indian law.