Relics of Buddha will be exhibited in Thailand

Context: The government has announced that four out of the 20 relics of Lord Buddha housed at the National Museum in New Delhi will be sent to Thailand.

Key Points:

• The event is being organised with the backing of the Ministry of External Affairs, the Indian Embassy in Thailand, the International Buddhist Confederation, and the government of Madhya Pradesh. 
• This will be the first occasion where the esteemed relics of Lord Buddha, as well as his disciples Arahata Sariputra and Arahata Maudgalayana, will be exhibited simultaneously.

Details about the Buddha:

• Siddhartha Gautam was born in 563 BC and came from the Sakya royal family in Kapilvastu, Lumbini. 
• At 29 years old, he left home and lived a life of self-denial. After meditating for 49 days, Gautam achieved enlightenment under a pipal tree in Bodhgaya, Bihar. 
• He gave his first sermon in Sarnath, near Benares in Uttar Pradesh, which is called the Dharma-Chakra-Pravartana. Gautam died at the age of 80 in Kushinagara, Uttar Pradesh, which is known as Mahaparinibban.

Relics of Buddha’s:

• In simple terms, these are what we call Buddha’s ashes. Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh at the age of 80 is the exact place where the Buddha telepathically enabled His salvation.
• He was cremated at Kushinagar by the Mallas, who subsequently split his cremation tubes among the eight castes.
• These remains multiplied in the generations to come and they were later unearthed by Ashoka who sent them away and raised stupas on them all over his land.
• In the Ashokavadana, the reign of King Ashoka was marked with construction of 84,000 stupas of Yakshas that were made of religious relics of the Buddha

Current Status of Relics:

• Small parts of the sacred relics are shown in Sri Lanka, Mongolia, Singapore, South Korea, and Thailand.
• The relics, made up only of 20 pieces of bone, belong to the Museums of National, in New Delhi, and the Indian, in Kolkata.
• This will be the second time in the 600-year history of Thailand that they are being exhibited in Thailand.

Dispersal of sacred relics:

• The relics of Buddha were considered significant as they represented Buddha himself. 
• After his cremation, his relics were divided and distributed among different groups.
• Ashoka, a follower of Buddhism, opened seven of the eight stupas containing the relics and built numerous stupas to promote Buddhism.

Kapilavastu Piprahwa: 

• Relics found in Piprahwa, part of the ancient city of Kapilavastu, were excavated by the National Museum in New Delhi and further discoveries were made by William Claxton Peppé and the Archaeological Survey of India. 
• The excavations revealed additional sacred bone relics and terracotta sealings, confirming Piprahwa as the ancient Kapilavastu.

Source: The Indian Express

UPSC Prelims Practice Question:

Q.Regarding the Money Bill, which of the following statements is not correct? (2018)

a. Andhra

b. Gandhara

c. Kalinga

c. Magadha

Ans: “a”

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