The Piprahwa relics of Lord Buddha have returned to India after 127 years. The holy remains were discovered by British civil engineer and landowner William Claxton Peppé in 1898 from Piprahwa, the ancient site of Kapilavastu in the Siddharthnagar district of Uttar Pradesh. Piprahwa is just south of Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha in Nepal.
The Piprahwa site contained a massive sandstone coffer housing the relics, including sacred bones and ashes, precious gemstones and soapstone as well as crystal reliquaries.
Five caskets, including a crystal casket believed to be over 2,300 years old, were unearthed during excavations. Buried 18 feet underground these caskets contained sacred relics associated with Lord Buddha. Inscribed in early Brahmi script, one of the oldest known in any Indian language, an urn identified the depositors as members of the Buddha’s own Shakya clan, who had enshrined here the relics of the Buddha.
William Claxton Peppé’s excavation of the Piprahwa relics in 1898 has been referred to as “one of the most astonishing archaeological finds of the modern era”.
The majority of these relics were transferred to the Indian Museum in Kolkata in 1899. However, a portion of the relics retained by the Peppé family was taken away from India and was listed for auction.
The repatriation of the Piprahwa relics was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who said it was a “joyous day for our cultural heritage”.
Originally slated for auction in Hong Kong in May 2025, the sacred artefacts were successfully secured by the Ministry of Culture.
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