Sacred Buddhist Piprahwa gemstones, put up for auction in Hong Kong, repatriated to India after 127 years

Jewels forming a portion of the sacred Piprahwa relics of the Buddha, which had recently come up for auction at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, were repatriated to India on Wednesday, 127 years after they were taken away during colonial rule.

- BY S VENKAT NARAYAN

Pirojsha Godrej of India’s Godrej Industries Group stepped forward to acquire the collection of 349 jewels, officials from the Ministry of Culture told reporters Wednesday. The value of the transaction was not disclosed but the collection is estimated to be worth over $100 million.

Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat called it “an exemplary case of public-private partnership.”

“A large portion of the acquired collection will be on loan to the National Museum for five years, and Godrej Industries has agreed to display the entire gem collection upon its arrival in India for a period of three months,” he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a post on X: “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. It also illustrates our commitment to preserving and protecting different aspects of our glorious culture.”

The relics were discovered during the excavation of an ancient Buddhist stupa in Uttar Pradesh's Piprahwa, near the India-Nepal border. They hold immense religious and cultural importance for the Buddhist community.