OUR CORRESPONDENT
ITANAGAR: The sacred Piprahwa relics of Lord Shakyamuni Buddha arrived at the Golden Pagoda in Arunachal Pradesh's Namsai district on Saturday for the final leg of their three-district exposition in the state.
The relics were received on the occasion of Abhidhamma Divas (Lhabab Düchen), Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein said. The exposition will continue until November 20, offering devotees an opportunity to pay homage to the revered remains.
Mein said the relics, associated with the ancient Shakya clan and the life of Buddha, held immense spiritual and historical significance for Buddhists. He invited devotees and visitors to attend the exposition.
The relics, preserved at the National Museum in New Delhi, arrived in Arunachal Pradesh on October 31. Chief Minister Pema Khandu received them at Tawang Monastery in the presence of Union Culture and Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Buddhist religious leaders.
The seven-day exposition at Tawang Monastery, held from November 1 to 7, drew around 31,000 devotees and visitors. The relics were subsequently displayed at TGL Monastery (Lower Gompa) in Bomdila, West Kameng district, from November 8 to 13.
They are scheduled to return to the National Museum on November 21.
The exposition is being organised by the Union Ministry of Culture in collaboration with the Arunachal Pradesh government, the International Buddhist Confederation and the National Museum. Special exhibitions on the discovery and historical significance of the relics are also being held.
The relics were discovered in 1898 by British engineer William Claxton Peppé during an excavation of an ancient Buddhist stupa at Piprahwa in present-day Siddharthnagar district of Uttar Pradesh. An inscription on one of the reliquaries refers to the Buddha's relics and their enshrinement by members of the Shakya clan.