Sarnath witnessed a deeply spiritual spectacle as thousands of devotees gathered to witness the grand Shobha Yatra of Lord Buddha’s sacred relics on the auspicious occasion of Kartik Purnima yesterday.
The event marked the 94th anniversary celebrations of Mulagandha Kuti Vihara—the revered site where the Buddha delivered his first sermon, Dharmachakra Pravartana, revealing the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path.
Over the span of two days, more than 22,000 devotees from Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal and from across India—including Kolkata, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Ladakh, and the Himalayan regions—visited Sarnath to pay homage and have a glimpse of the sacred relics. Among them, the largest group of devotees arrived from Sri Lanka, reflecting the deep spiritual ties between India and Buddhist nations.
The Shobha Yatra began from Mulagandha Kuti Vihara and passed through Sarnath Chauraha, Suheldev Chowk, and Museum Road before returning to the Vihara. The relics were carried in a golden casket placed atop a beautifully decorated elephant, followed by a procession of monks, nuns, horse carriages, lay devotees, and schoolchildren chanting prayers and hymns. The air reverberated with devotion as the relics symbolically journeyed through the land where the Buddha’s message first spread to the world.
State Tourism and Culture Minister Jaiveer Singh said that Sarnath has emerged as a global centre of Buddhist pilgrimage, with the state witnessing a record rise in international visitors over the past few years.
“In 2016, Buddhist sites in Uttar Pradesh attracted around 28 lakh visitors. By 2024, this figure had increased to over 84 lakh — a threefold rise that reflects Uttar Pradesh’s growing importance on the global Buddhist tourism map. During the first half of 2025 alone, Sarnath welcomed nearly 5 lakh visitors, and the footfall of foreign pilgrims has shown a consistent upward trend,” Singh said.
At Mulagandha Kuti Vihara, two sacred bone relics of the Buddha are enshrined—one discovered in the ancient Gandhara (Taxila) region and presented to the Maha Bodhi Society of India in 1956, and the other unearthed at Nagarjunakonda in South India, preserved in an inscribed stone casket over 2,000 years old. Both relics are displayed only twice a year, on Buddha Purnima and Kartik Purnima, making this event deeply significant for devotees worldwide.
The annual exposition and Shobha Yatra were organized by the Maha Bodhi Society of India, Sarnath Centre, under the spiritual guidance of Venerable Bhante Sumitha Nanda Thero, in collaboration with the Venerable Vietnamese Sangha and devoted followers from Hanoi. The event concluded with the respectful re-enshrinement of the relics beneath the golden Buddha statue, leaving devotees with a profound reminder that the true relics of the Buddha dwell in the compassionate heart and mindful awareness of every being.