The North News
New Delhi, January 2
The Union Ministry of Culture is set to host a landmark exhibition bringing together the Piprahwa relics, reliquaries and gem relics associated with Lord Buddha, following their recent repatriation to the country after more than a century. The exhibition, titled The Light and the Lotus: Relics of the Awakened One, will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 3 at the Rai Pithora Cultural Complex in Delhi.
Officials said the event marks the reunification of the Piprahwa gem relics of the Buddha — returned to India after 127 years — with relics and reliquaries unearthed during excavations at the Piprahwa site in 1898 and later between 1971 and 1975. The exhibition brings together more than 80 artefacts, spanning from the 6th century BCE to the present, including sculptures, manuscripts, thangkas and ritual objects drawn from cultural institutions under the Ministry of Culture. The collection is described as the most extensive assemblage of objects attributed to the Buddha ever displayed together.
The gathering follows the ministry’s intervention in July 2025, when the relics were repatriated through a public–private partnership, halting their auction at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong.
For the first time since their discovery, the exhibition unites relics from the 1898 Kapilavastu excavation, treasures from the 1972 digs, jewelled reliquaries preserved at the Indian Museum, Kolkata, items from the Peppé family collection, and the original monolithic stone coffer in which the relics were found.
The sacred relics were discovered in 1898 by British estate manager William Claxton Peppé at an ancient stupa near Kapilavastu. They were later distributed across countries, including Thailand and the UK, with a portion retained in India. Their return in 2025 was supported by Buddhist communities worldwide, officials said.
