Buddha's Relics Return to India After 125 Years at Delhi's Piprahwa Relics Exhibition, Amidst Conversations About Reverence and Spectacle

On January 3, 2026, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated "The Light & the Lotus: Relics of the Awakened One" at Delhi's Rai Pithora Cultural Complex, marking the return of the Piprahwa relics after 125 years. 

The story of these sacred objects begins in the late 19th century, when British estate manager William Claxton Peppé excavated a stupa at Piprahwa, near the present-day Uttar Pradesh–Nepal border. Inside lay a reliquary inscribed in Brahmi, widely interpreted by scholars as referring to the Buddha's Sakya clan. Alongside bone fragments believed to be the Buddha's mortal remains were hundreds of precious gems, offerings placed after the Buddha's parinirvana.

Whilst the bone relics remained in India, the gems travelled to Britain during the colonial period, entering museum collections and private holdings. Their journey mirrors a longer history of displacement, where sacred objects were removed from their ritual and cultural contexts. When Sotheby's announced an auction in May 2025, the Indian government intervened decisively. Through sustained government efforts and a public-private partnership with Godrej Industries Group, the relics were repatriated in July 2025. The recent exhibition in New Delhi is not merely archaeological but deeply symbolic, an attempt to restore a broken sacred geography.

The Exhibition as a Moment of Reckoning

The current international exhibition brings together relics, historical narratives, and state-led cultural diplomacy. Inaugurated with considerable ceremony at the Rai Pithora Cultural Complex, it has been framed as a civilisational homecoming, a moment where India reasserts its role as the spiritual heartland of Buddhism.

For archaeologist and Buddhist studies expert Dr. Sunil Patnaik, the exhibition must be read alongside India's broader Buddhist heritage. "The ruins are still better managed and kept for posterity," he notes, emphasising that India's protected sites, including Odisha's 'Diamond Triangle' of Ratnagiri, Lalitgiri, and Udayagiri in Odisha, which have recently been in the news for conversations of hosting a Buddhist summit and for UNESCO status, are under the Archaeological Survey of India and require respect rather than modernisation. "We fail to appreciate the conservation measures that were taken; nothing more in respect of conservation can be taken up since the sites have thousand-year-old structures."

Mohanty stresses awareness over spectacle. "Create awareness amongst locals and the public to give respect to the monuments, it narrates our way of life, it sheds light on our culture." In this sense, the exhibition's true importance lies not in scale, but in whether it deepens understanding rather than merely attracting crowds.

Reverence, Confusion, and Faith on the Ground

On the exhibition floor, reactions are layered and often conflicting. Suresh Kumar, a resident of Uttam Nagar visiting with his family, expressed frustration. "There is a lack of proper written context," he said. "When my children asked questions, I couldn't explain what we were seeing." His concern reflects a gap between display and interpretation, where sacred history risks becoming visually impressive but intellectually inaccessible.

For Buddhist monks, the concern is more spiritual. Tenzen Lama, who travelled from the monastery at Majnu Ka Tilla, was visibly disturbed. "People are stepping all around with shoes, without any respect, clicking only pictures," he said. "There is no reverence at all to the holy relics."

Another monk from the same monastery, Sonam Topgyal, offered a sharper reading. He pointed to the recent controversy at Bodh Gaya, where Buddhist groups protested state and temple management structures they feel marginalise monastic authority, suggesting that the exhibition could also be read as a political gesture. "It shows concern for Buddhism," he said quietly, "but the real issues at Gaya remain unresolved." The relics, he implied, risk becoming symbols in a diplomatic and domestic balancing act.

Beyond Display And What the Relics Demand

The Piprahwa relics demand more than admiration. They call for ethical custodianship, informed narration, and ritual sensitivity. As Mohanty notes in the context of heritage tourism, "It is not everybody's job to market heritage products, involve experts and experienced people."

The exhibition has reopened conversations about ownership, faith, and historical justice. For the Buddhist fraternity, it is a moment of pride tinged with unease. For visitors, it is an encounter that requires guidance. And for the state, it is an opportunity, but also a responsibility, to ensure that sacred history is not reduced to a backdrop for optics.

The exposition, which runs daily from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM at the Rai Pithora Cultural Complex, will continue for six months. Ultimately, the relics remind us that history is not inert. It breathes through belief, memory, and the way people choose to walk, or pause, around it.