The holy Devanimori relics of Lord Buddha, scheduled to travel to Colombo, Sri Lanka for public veneration from February 4 to 10, reached the National Museum in New Delhi on Tuesday.
A view of Buddhist monks with others offering prayers to the holy Devanimori remains of Lord Buddha as it was taken to Sri Lanka for the first international exhibition from Delhi Airport in New Delhi on Wednesday. (ANI Video Grab)The holy bone relic will return from Sri Lanka on February 11 and will be displayed at the Gangaramaya Temple in Colombo from February 4 to 10.
These relics were preserved in the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda.
The delegation will be led by Gujarat Governor Acharya Devabrata and Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghvi. The delegation will include officials from the National Museum, representatives from the MS University in Vadodara, which currently houses the holy relic, and representatives from the International Buddhist Confederation.
Earlier, Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to India, Mahishini Colon, on Sunday described the exhibition of Lord Buddha’s holy Devanimori relics in Colombo as a “rare blessing” for the country, thanking the Indian government for making the historic event possible.
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“A rare blessing for Sri Lanka. The sacred Devanimori relics of Lord Buddha are on display at Sri Lanka’s Gangaramaya Temple — the first international exhibition of relics. Grateful to the Government of India and all who made this possible,” Colon said in a post on X.
His comments came in response to an announcement by the Indian High Commission in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Saturday, which said the relics would travel to Sri Lanka following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement. The post said, “As announced by Prime Minister @narendramodi, the sacred Devanimoori relics of Lord Buddha are traveling to Sri Lanka for their first international exhibition.”
According to the announcement, the relics will be opened for public worship at the Gangaramaya Temple in Colombo from February 5.
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These ruins are significant, as they display Buddhist artefacts and sculptures from the Western Satrap period. They are now on display in the country’s first international exhibition in Sri Lanka, underscoring their cultural significance.
According to the MEA brief in terms of cultural relations, cooperation between the two countries includes setting up the Indian Gallery at the International Buddhist Museum in Kandy; restoration of Tirukiteswaram temple in Mannar; Exhibition of Sacred Kapilavastu Relics, held in Sri Lanka in 2012 to commemorate 2600 years of Lord Buddha’s Enlightenment (Enlightenment Jubilee); etc. (ANI)
