When the british returned to their country from india, they took with them many things related to our history, religion and heritage. They kept it abroad for years and kept claiming it as theirs. The british even auctioned some things. But now india is bringing back its heritage from abroad one by one. In this sequence, the sacred 127-year-old remains of Lord buddha have been brought to India. The indian government has brought them back from Britain.
PM Modi's message
These remains of Lord buddha were installed with reverence and respect in the Piprahwa buddha temple in Siddharthnagar district of Uttar Pradesh. Even PM Modi shared the photo of these remains on social media and wrote, this moment is a symbol of India's culture, heritage and our faith in Buddha. This is a proud day for every Indian. A few days ago, these remains were to be auctioned, but the indian government stood firm and stopped the auction. Today india has brought these remains back to its country.
How were these remains found?
The story of these remains began in 1898. During that time, a british engineer William Pepe excavated an old Buddhist stupa in Piprahwa and found a huge stone vessel in it. This vessel contained remains of Lord Buddha's bones, sacred urns made of crystal and soapstone and gems and jewellery. Most of these gems and jewellery such as more than 1800 pearls, rubies, topaz, sapphires and golden sheets were kept in the museum in Kolkata.
If historians are to be believed, the stupa under which these remains were found was built by the Shakya descendants after the cremation of Lord Buddha.
How did these remains reach Britain?
At that time, the british government had sent most of the precious remains found from the excavation to the indian Museum, kolkata under the indian Treasure Trove Act. But british engineer and excavator William Pepe was allowed to keep some things with himself, which later also remained with his family. When Pepe's descendant chris Pepe was going to auction these gems through an organization called Sotheby's, the indian government came to know about it.
The remains were going to be auctioned
The indian government's culture Ministry immediately issued a legal notice. The indian government said that auctioning these heritages is a violation of indian laws and the United Nations agreement. After this, the auctioning organization also refused to auction and the indian government has brought this invaluable property back to its country after 127 years.
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