The sacred relics of the Buddha from the National Museum, New Delhi, will travel to Russia’s Kalmykia Republic for the First Exposition and will be accompanied by a high-level delegation of senior Indian and international monks to bless and enable prayers by the predominantly Buddhist population of the region.
The Ministry of Culture, Government of India, in collaboration with the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC), the National Museum, and the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), is organising for the first time an exposition of the sacred Buddha relics that are enshrined in the National Museum at the 3rd International Buddhist Forum to be held in Elista, the capital of Russia’s Kalmykia Republic, from September 24-28.
The highlight of the forum, themed “Buddhism in the New Millennium,” will be the Shakyamuni’s Sacred Relics from India, four exhibitions organised by IBC and the National Museum, and three special academic lectures, the Ministry of Culture said on Monday.
The relics will be enshrined in the main Buddhist monastery in Elista, the capital of Kalmykia, known as the Geden Sheddup Choikorling Monastery, also called the “Golden Abode of Shakyamuni Buddha.”
This is a significant Tibetan Buddhist centre, opened for the public in 1996, and is surrounded by the Kalmyk steppe.