NEW DELHI: Four bone fragments of Lord Buddha also known as ‘Kapilvastu Relics’, presently kept here in the National Museum, will be taken to Thailand on Thursday after about 30 years. They will be displayed in four cities including Bangkok and Krabi, where people will pay their obeisance to the sacred remnants. Last time, they were taken out of the country in May when they were exhibited at an exposition in Mongolia. The relics of two chief disciples of the Buddha — Sariputta and Maha Moggallana from Sanchi in Madhya Pradesh — are also being ferried along with cremated remains of Buddha for the first time.Before exposition, the relics will be kept safely at the National Museum in Bangkok for a limited period of quarantine. The venues have been finalized in consultation with the officials of the Government of Thailand and officials of the Indian embassy there.About 22 Buddha relics were discovered during excavation at Piprahwa village in Siddharthnagar district of Uttar Pradesh in 1971-77. According to the officials, 20 of them were loaned to the National Museum in the national capital and two were handed over to the Indian Museum in Kolkata.“The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) conducted excavations at Piprahwa between 1971 and 77, under the supervision of KM Srivastava, the then director (Archaeology). The excavation team discovered two inscribed steatite stone caskets containing twelve sacred relics from the bigger casket and ten sacred relics from the smaller casket,” said the Ministry of Culture’s Secretary, Govind Mohan on Tuesday, while briefing about the travel schedule and significance of the relics. He further informed that only four relics from the National Museum are allowed to be sent abroad. They were taken to Sri Lanka in 1976 and 2012, Mongolia in 1993 and 2022, Singapore in 1994 and 2007, South Korea in 1995 and Thailand in 1995.The relics will be flown back on March 19.Mohan also mentioned that the relics are being taken in a special Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft with an adequate number of security personnel. A delegation of about 20 officials of the culture ministry and other agencies as well as Buddhist monks are also travelling with rare antiquities.The delegation is being led by Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, Virendra Kumar along with Governor of Bihar, Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar.“We have long-standing ties with Thailand. Indian culture is visible in the nook and corner of Thailand. Apart from the fact that this is an initiative for the followers of Buddhism in Thailand, it is a big diplomatic achievement for us,” said the secretary.
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