'Joyous day': PM hails Piprahwa Buddha relics' return

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday welcomed the return of the sacred Piprahwa relics of Lord Buddha to India after 127 years, calling it a “joyous day” for the country’s cultural heritage.

- Vrinda Tulsian

He noted that the relics were discovered in 1898 but taken away from the country during the colonial period.

“A joyous day for our cultural heritage! It would make every Indian proud that the sacred Piprahwa relics of Bhagwan Buddha have come home after 127 long years. These sacred relics highlight India’s close association with Bhagwan Buddha and his noble teachings,” he wrote on X.

The relics, excavated from the Piprahwa stupa in present-day Siddharthnagar district of Uttar Pradesh in 1898, arrived in Mumbai on a chartered flight from Hong Kong on Tuesday night. On Wednesday morning, they were flown to Delhi and taken to the National Museum.

Later in the day, the relics were placed on display at the museum in a ceremony attended by Union culture minister Gajendra Shekhawat and senior ministry officials, with Buddhist monks performing rituals amid traditional chants.