Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday inaugurated the Grand International Exposition of Sacred Piprahwa Relics related to Bhagwan Buddha at Rai Pithora Cultural Complex in New Delhi.
This historic event marked the reunification of the Piprahwa gem relics of Lord Buddha, repatriated after 127 years, with relics, gem relics, and reliquaries from 1898 and then 1971-1975 excavations at the Piprahwa site.
Addressing a gathering on the ocassion, Modi said that India’s sacred legacy has come back home after a wait of a one and quarter centuries. “From today, the people of India will be able to have the sacred darshan of these holy relics of Lord Buddha and receive his divine blessings,” Modi said.
The Prime Minister said that it was a matter of good fortune for him that this was his first public program of 2026, starting from the footsteps of Lord Buddha.
“My wish is that with the blessings of Lord Buddha, 2026 brings a new era of peace, prosperity, and harmony for the world. The place where this exhibition is set up is special in itself. This site of Kila Rai Pithora is a glorious land of India’s proud history,” he said.
The PM said that the relics of Lord Buddha were taken away from India during the period of slavery, and now that they have been brought back, it teaches a very profound lesson. “The lesson is that slavery is not merely political or economic; slavery also suppresses our heritage. The same happened with the sacred relics of Lord Buddha.”
Modi said that for India, the sacred relics of Lord Buddha are “a part of our deity himself, an integral part of our civilization.”
The sacred Buddha relics were discovered in 1898 by William Claxton Peppé at the ancient stupa of Kapilavastu.
Following their discovery, portions were distributed globally, with one part gifted to the King of Siam, another taken to England, and a third preserved at the Indian Museum, Kolkata. In 2025, the Peppe family portion was repatriated through decisive intervention by the Ministry of Culture, supported by Buddhist communities worldwide.
The Ministry of Culture made extensive efforts to ensure repatriation of the relics in July 2025, achieved through a public-private partnership, halting an auction at Sotheby’s Hong Kong.
The exhibition features over 80 objects spanning the 6th century BCE to the present, including sculptures, manuscripts, thangkas, and ritual objects.