Modi to Open Piprahwa Relics Exposition in Delhi on Jan. 3
The exhibition unites repatriated finds with artifacts from national museums to present a curated account of early Buddhism.
Overview
- The Ministry of Culture will host the event at Delhi’s Rai Pithora cultural complex under the title “The Light & the Lotus: Relics of the Awakened One.”
- For the first time, the repatriated Piprahwa Relics will be displayed alongside related materials from the National Museum, New Delhi, and the Indian Museum, Kolkata.
- Discovered in 1898, the relics are widely believed to be linked to the Buddha’s mortal remains and to the Piprahwa site associated with ancient Kapilavastu.
- A Sanchi Stupa–inspired interpretive model anchors thematic sections such as Piprahwa Revisited and Vignettes of the Life of Buddha, with curated narratives on early Buddhism.
- Immersive films, digital reconstructions and multimedia explain the discoveries and their journeys, and officials credit sustained government effort and public–private partnership for the relics’ repatriation.