In a special gesture towards the people of Mongolia, four holy relics of Lord Buddha are being taken from India to Mongolia for an 11-day exposition as part of the celebrations of Mongolian Buddh Purnima, falling on June 14th, 2022.
A 25-member delegation, led by Minister of Law and Justice, Shri Kiren Rijiju accompanying the sacred relics will leave for Mongolia on 12th June 2022.
The Holy Relics will be displayed at the Batsagaan Temple within the premises of Gandan Monastery.
The Holy Buddha Relics, currently housed in the National Museum, are known as the ‘Kapilvastu Relics’ since they are from a site in Bihar first discovered in 1898 which is believed to be the ancient city of Kapilvastu.
Briefing media persons about the visit to New Delhi today, Kiren Rijiju said that it is another historic milestone in India-Mongolia relations and will further boost cultural and spiritual relations between the two countries.
Recalling the visit of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi to Mongolia in 2015, the Union Minister said that Narendra Modi was the first-ever Prime Minister of India to visit Mongolia, and taking the relics to Mongolia is an extension of the vision of our Prime Minister to revive our relations with the countries with whom we have had cultural and spiritual ties since centuries ago.
Rijiju explained that Mongolia and India look upon each other as spiritual and cultural neighbors and due to this commonality, Mongolia can also be said to be our “Third Neighbour” even though we don’t enjoy any common physical boundaries.
Union Minister also said that the teachings of Lord Buddha are relevant even in today’s time and will guide humanity towards greater peace, harmony, and prosperity.
Union Minister also said that India believes in peace and harmony and wants to spread this message throughout the world through the teachings of Lord Buddha, which is India’s cultural gift to the world.
The relics are being taken for an 11-day exposition as a special gift for the people of Mongolia who enjoy very special respect in their hearts for the sacred relics, the Minister explained.
Briefing the media virtually, Union minister for Culture, Tourism, and DoNER, Shri G.Kishan Reddy said that Lord Buddha is revered not only in India but all over the world.
Narendra Modi is the first-ever Prime Minister of India to visit Mongolia in 2015 and the relics will be displayed at the same Monastery which was visited by the Prime Minister, the Minister disclosed.
Kishan Reddy explained that the Government is making all efforts to spread Lord Buddha’s message of peace and compassion all over the world.
Accordingly, Government is working on several projects to develop Buddhist sites, locations, and Buddhist centers in India. The inauguration of Kushinagar airport recently is one such example, he said.
The Relics will be accorded the status of a State Guest and will be taken in the same climate control case as it has been kept presently at the National Museum.
Indian Air force has made available a special airplane C-17 Globe Master to carry the holy relics.
The relics will be received in Mongolia by the Culture Minister of Mongolia; Advisor to the President of Mongolia and a large number of monks among other dignitaries.
The Lord Buddha Relics available in Mongolia would also be displayed along with the relics from India.
Two Bullet Proof casings, as well as two ceremonial caskets, are being carried by the Indian Delegation for both the Relics.
In the first-ever visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Mongolia, in 2015 Narendra Modi visited Gandan Monastery and also presented a Bodhi Tree Sapling to Hamba Lama.
Pointing out the centuries-old Buddhist ties between the two countries, Narendra Modi defined India and Mongolia as Spiritual Neighbours during his address to the Mongolian Parliament.
India shares a long history of cultural & historical ties with Mongolia and to take this partnership forward, at the request of the Mongolian Government, Union Culture Minister, Shri G. Kishan Reddy made a special exception and permitted the exposition of the Holy Relics of Lord Buddha for 11 days at Batsagaan Temple inside Gandan Monastery, Mongolia.
The last time these relics were taken out of the country was in 2012 when their exposition was held in Sri Lanka and was on display at several locations across the island nation.
However, later guidelines were issued and the Holy Relics were placed under the ‘AA’ category of those Antiquities and Art Treasures that should not be ordinarily taken out of the country for exhibition, considering their delicate nature.
The 25-member delegation comprises JS, Culture, Smt Amita Prasad Sarbhai; official media team headed by ADG, Smt Nanu Bhasin; technical experts from National Museum; representatives of IBC (International Buddhist Confederation) together with famous singer Mohit Chauhan who is the cultural envoy of Mongolia to India.
Earlier, an advance team led by JS, Ministry of Culture, Smt Lily Pandeya comprising of Ministry of Culture Officials, curators of National Museum traveled to Mongolia on 8th June 2022 for overseeing preparatory arrangements for receiving of the relics and for the signing of an MoU between National Museum and Gandan Monastery for the exposition.
Since the visit of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, India has been supporting Mongolia in various fields and in cultural realms.
India has printed 75 copies of 108 volumes of Mongolian Kanjur and handed them over to the Mongolian Government and various Buddhist Institutions there.
The work of digitization of the Kanjur manuscripts is also in full swing. Around 500 Mongolian monks are studying in different monasteries and institutions in India for which India has facilitated their travel and Visas in the past few years.
Buddha’s Life
The birth of Siddhartha, who was born to king Suddhodhana, the ruler of Kapilavastu
(identified with Piprahwa, Distt. Basti, Uttar Pradesh) and Mayadevi in about 563 BCE, was a significant event in the history of mankind.
At the age of twenty-nine, he renounced the pleasures of this earthly life and set out on a tireless quest for salvation.
Seated under a Pipal tree, with an intense desire, which he expressed in his own words.”…I will not stir from this seat until I have attained supreme and absolute insight,” he received enlightenment and was called Guatama (his Gotra) Buddha (the enlightened one).
Thereafter, during forty-five years of his illustrious life, he visited many places on foot teaching his doctrine (Saddharma), converting people, and organizing them into a community (Sangha).
In one of his last utterances, Buddha named the chief places of Buddhist pilgrimage: Lumbini (Place of birth), Bodhgaya (place of his enlightenment), Sarnath (the place of his first sermon), and Kushinagar (Place of his death and cremation).
Buddha’s life scenes as well as scenes from a few of the five hundred and fifty Jataka tales (stories of his previous life) form an important part of the entire gamut of the early Buddhist sculptural art.
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Distribution of the Sacred Relics of Buddha
When he was eighty, Buddha died in Kushinagar Dist. Deoria of Uttar Pradesh. The Mallas
of Kushinagar cremated his body with ceremonies befitting a universal king.
His relics, from the funeral pyre, were collected and divided into eight shares and were distributed among Ajathsatru of Magadha, the Licchavis of Vaishali, the Sakyas of Kapilavastu, Mallas of Kushinagar, Bullies of Allakappa, the Mallas of Pava, the Koliyas of Ramagrama and a Brahmana of Vethadipa for erecting stupa over the sacred relics.
Two more stupas came into existence, one over the urn in which the relics had been collected and the over the embers.
Thus, stupas erected over the bodily relics of Buddha (Saririka stupas) are the earliest surviving Buddhist shrines.
It is stated that Ashoka (circa 272–232 BCE) being an ardent follower of Buddhism, opened -up to seven of these eight stupas, and collected a major portion of the relics for enshrinement within innumerable (84000 stupas) built by him in an effort to popularize Buddhism as well as the cult of the stupa.
Kapilavastu Piprahwa
The mound at Piprahwa reveals the secret to identifying it with the ancient Kapilavastu.
The Discovery of an inscribed casket in 1898 at this stupa site, was an epoch-making discovery.
The inscription on the lid which refers to the relics of Buddha and his community, the Sakya, runs thus:
“Sukiti bhatinam sa-bhaginikanam sa-puta-dalanam iyam salila nidhare Bhaddhasa
bhagavate sakiyanam.”
Its meaning, according to Rhys Davis is: “this shrine for relics of the Buddha, the August
One is that of the Sakyas. The brethren of the distinguish One, in association with their sisters and with their children and their wives.”
The discovery was followed by many explorations. Further excavation of the stupa, partly
dug by Peppe, by the Archaeological Survey of India (1971-77) apart from revealing three
stages of the construction brought to light two more steatite relic caskets, one each from the northern and southern chambers containing a total of twenty-two sacred bone relics and are now under the care of the National Museum.
This was followed by the discovery of more than forty terracotta sealings from different levels and spots in the eastern monastery at Piprahwa with the legends, ‘Om Devaputra Vihare Kapilavastusa Bhikshu Sanghasa’, meaning ‘community of Buddhist monks of Kapilavastu living in Devaputra Vihara’ and ‘Maha Kapilavastu Bhikshu Sanghasa’ in Brahmi character of 1st and 2nd centuries CE which have provided adequate evidence to establish that Piprahwa was the ancient Kapilavastu.
Finally, the remains of the main township of Kapilavastu were unearthed at Ganwaria, which has its beginning in the eighth century BCE where a few centuries later monasteries were constructed to enable the monks to stay.