Sacred Kapilavastu Relics Being Brought from India for Veneration in Sri Lanka 19 August 2012, 10:52 am

The special casket carrying the sacred relics During President Mahinda Rajapaksa s State visit to India in June 2010, it was agree d that Sri Lanka and India will undertake joint activities to commemorate the 26 00th Year of Enlightenment of Gautama Buddha. Following this agreement, Presiden t Rajapaksa wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh requesting for the Sacred Kap ilavastu Relics to be sent to Sri Lanka for veneration on this historic occasion of significance for both countries. The Relics, discovered in 1898 in Kapilavastu, the ancient land of the Sakyas, a re housed in the National Museum of India, under the greatest care and attention . The shifting of the Relics is a President Rajapaksa initiated a ention to detail on the part of a, to prepare for the Relics to delicate process. As a result, the request from process requiring dedicated effort with much att relevant officials in both India and in Sri Lank be taken to Sri Lanka for exposition.

The dates and venues for the exposition in Sri Lanka were agreed with the signin g of a MOU last week between the Director General of the National Museum of Indi a and the Secretary of the Ministry of Buddhasasana of Sri Lanka. Accordingly, the portion of the Corporeal Relics of Gautama Buddha that was hand ed over to the Sakyas of Kapilavastu, according to what is recorded in the Mahap arinibbana Sutta, will make their journey to Sri Lanka for the second time since their discovery in 1898. The first exposition took place in 1978, thirty-four y ears ago. During the landmark State visit of President Mahinda Rajapaksa to Indi a in June 2010, it was decided that the 2600th Year of the Attainment of Enlight enment of Prince Siddharatha as Gautama Buddha (Sambuddhatva Jayanthi) will be c ommemorated by India and Sri Lanka through joint activities. Ruins of the ancient City of Kapilavastu Following this agreement, President Rajapaksa personally requested the Prime Min ister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, to afford Sri Lankan Buddhists an opportunity to pay homage to the Sacred Kapilavastu Relics by allowing the Relics to be taken to Sr i Lanka as a part of the commemoration of the 2600th Year of the Sambuddhatva Ja yanthi. These Relics of the Gautama Buddha which are known to the world as the Kapi lavastu Relics are from a site in Bihar first discovered in 1898 which is believed to be the ancient City of Kapilavastu. This epoch making discovery was at a stup a site, Piprahwa.

The relic casket discovered in 1898 bore the inscription The shrine for relics of t he Buddha, the August One, is that of the Sakyas, The Relics were excavated by A lexander Cunningham, the first Director of the Archaeological Survey of India Hi storical chronicles record that, after the Buddha s Parinibbana (passing away), the h elics taken from the cremation site were divided into eight portions, and handed over to separate groups for preservation.