New Delhi: The Sacred Relics of the Buddha’ housed in the National Museum here are set to temporarily move out to Arunachal Pradesh for display at Buddhist monasteries in Tawang, Bomdila and Namsai.
The treasure trove of four bone fragments will be displayed for a week each at the three remote monasteries in the North east state starting from November 16.
It would give the people of the Buddhist-populated state a chance to pay homage to the Buddha.
The artefacts, which the Archaeological Survey of India recovered from Uttar Pradesh in the 1970s, will be displayed at the high-altitude Buddhist centres in Tawang, Bomdila and Namsai respectively, beginning on November 17, National Museum Director-General Dr Venu V said on Thursday.
“The relics will be first open for the public this Saturday at Tawang monastery close to Tibetan border,” he said.
Tawang would be the first ever district in the entire North-eastern states to have the privilege to expo and receive the holy relics.
From there, it will travel to Bomdila monastery in West Kameng district to be unveiled on November 26.
The Tenga-pani Golden Pagoda at Namsai in Lohit district will be the last stop, starting from December 6.
The exposition is being organised by Department of Karmik and Adhyatmik (Chos-Rig) Affairs, of the state government in collaboration with National Museum under union ministry of Culture.
For the Arunachalis, this is a much-awaited journey. “From July 2012, the government in Itanagar has been conveying us the pressing demand of the Buddhists from their state. It is a significant matter for them and for us as well,” Dr Venu said.
J E Dawson, Curator (Archaeology), said the National Museum has got a specially-designed bullet-proof glass showcase to display the relics in Arunachal Pradesh. “The consignment will be carried by the museum officials tomorrow,” he added.
At Tawang, the inaugural function would see the presence of Arunachal Pradesh Governor J J Singh, Chief Minister Nabam Tuki and Finance Minister Chowna Mein. Ravindra Singh, Secretary to the Ministry of Culture, will represent the Centre at Namsai, while Dr Venu would be present at Tawang and Bomdila.
Since 1990, after setting up a Buddhist Gallery, National Museum has been displaying the Sacred Relics.
The relics of Lord Buddha were excavated enclosed in a casket at a hillock at Piprahwa in the district of Basti in Uttar Pradesh in 1898 by an Archaeologist named W C Peppe. The excavations conducted by the Archaeological Survey of India between 1971 to 1977, resulted in the discovery of two more un-inscribed steatite caskets with 22 sacred bone relics in it. The sacred relics are in layman’s term the mortal remains of the Buddha. Tawang deputy commissioner Abhishek Dev has expressed confidence over the arrangement made in terms of security and regulation of heavy flow of devotees during the days of darshan. “To ensure that everyone gets a fair opportunity to see the relics, separate darshan roster has been allotted constituency wise,” he said.
Tawang Monastery was founded by Merak Lama Lodre Gyatso in the year 1680-81. It stands atop a mountain, which is 3300 meters high, overlooking the Tawang Chhu Valley.
The relics had a similar expedition to Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir in 2010.
The countries to where the sacred bone pieces have travelled for public viewing are Sri Lanka (last year and in 1976), Bangkok (1996), South Korea (1995), Singapore (1994) and Mongolia (1993). (Agencies)
