Four of the 20 Ruler Buddha relics housed at the National Historical Centre are being transported to Thailand for a month-long presentation starting Thursday, marking an uncommon trip overseas for the sensitive relics found more than a century ago.
Union Culture Secretary Govind Mohan told a press conference that the relics will be flown to Thailand as “state visitors” on an extraordinary Indian Discuss Drive flying machine. “The relics will reach Thailand on February 22 and will be shown at an uncommon structure in Bangkok until Walk 3,” he said. The relics will, at that point, be taken to Chiang Mai, Ubon Ratchathani, and Krabi some time after recently returning to India on Walk 19.
The relics will be taken by a 22-person official assignment driven by Bihar Senator Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar and Union Serve for Social Equity and Strengthening Virendra Kumar. Friars from Kushinagar, Aurangabad, and Ladakh, as well as National Historical Centre keepers, will go with the relics on their journey.
Due to the ‘AA’ category and their sensitive nature, the relics are seldom taken outside of India for presentation. The final time these were dispatched overseas was in 2022, for a presentation in Mongolia. The relics at the National Exhibition Hall are known as the ‘Kapilvastu Relics’ since they were found in 1898 at a location in Bihar that’s thought to be the antiquated city of Kapilvastu. An engraved casket found at the stupa location in Piprahwa (close to Siddharthnagar in Uttar Pradesh) made a difference in recognising Kapilavastu.
The casket contained Buddha’s relics as well as those of his community, Sakya. Together with the Buddha relics, the relics of his two followers, which are kept in Madhya Pradesh’s Sanchi, are being sent to Thailand for show. This will be the primary time the relics of Master Buddha and his devotees will be shown together.
The occasion is being composed with the assistance of the Service of Outside Issues, the Indian International Safe Haven in Thailand, the Universal Buddhist Confederation, and the Madhya Pradesh government. On the sidelines, there will be presentations about Buddhist destinations in India as well as scholarly talks around relics.