Rijiju-led delegation to carry Lord Buddha relics to Mongolia

PTI

New Delhi, June 11

In a special gesture, four holy relics of Lord Buddha are being flown from India to Mongolia for an 11-day exposition as part of celebrations of Mongolian Buddh Purnima falling on June 14, according to an official statement.

Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju will lead a 25-member delegation to Mongolia carrying the sacred relics. The delegation will leave on Sunday by an Indian Air Force C-17 transport aircraft, the statement issued by the Union Ministry of Culture said on Saturday.

To be kept in special caskets, the relics will be displayed at the Batsagaan temple within the premises of the Gandan Monastery.

The Buddha relics, currently housed in the National Museum, are known as the ‘Kapilvastu Relics’ since they are from a site in Bihar discovered in 1898 and believed to be the ancient city of Kapilvastu.

Briefing reporters here about the visit, Rijiju said it is another historic milestone in India-Mongolia relations and will further boost cultural and spiritual relations between the two countries.

Recalling the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Mongolia in 2015, the Union minister said Modi was the first Indian PM to visit the East Asian country. Taking the relics to Mongolia is an extension of his vision to revive India’s relations with the countries with whom it has had cultural and spiritual ties for centuries.

“Mongolia and India look upon each other as spiritual and cultural neighbours and due to this commonality, Mongolia can also be said to be our ‘Third Neighbour’, even though we don’t share any common physical boundary,” he said.

The Union minister also said that the teachings of Lord Buddha are relevant even today and will guide humanity towards greater peace, harmony and prosperity.

India believes in peace and harmony and wants to spread this message throughout the world through the teachings of Lord Buddha which are India’s cultural gift to the world, Rijiju said.

The relics are being taken for an 11-day exposition as a special gift for the people of Mongolia, he said.

The earlier plan was to take the relics for a week but on the request of Mongolia, they will be kept there for 11 days.

The relics will be accorded the status of a state guest and will be taken in the same climate control case in which they have been kept at the National Museum, the statement said.

Two bulletproof casings and two ceremonial caskets are being carried by the Indian delegation for the relics, it said.

The last time these relics were taken out of the country was in 2012 when an exposition was held in Sri Lanka and they were displayed at several locations across the island nation.

However, later guidelines were issued and the holy relics were placed under the ‘AA’ category of those antiquities and art treasures which should not be ordinarily taken out of the country for exhibition, considering their delicate nature.

But they are now being taken out at the request of the Mongolian government, Rijiju said.

Briefing the media virtually, Union Minister for Culture and Tourism G Kishan Reddy said Lord Buddha is revered not only in India but all over the world. The government is making all efforts to spread Lord Buddha’s message of peace and compassion all over the world.

Accordingly, the government is working on several projects to develop Buddhist sites, locations and Buddhist centres in India. The recent inauguration of the Kushinagar airport is one such example, he said.

According to the statement, during his visit to Mongolia in 2015, Modi had visited the Gandan Monastery and presented a Bodhi tree sapling to Hamba Lama.

Pointing out the centuries-old Buddhist ties between the two countries, Modi had defined India and Mongolia as spiritual neighbours during his address to the Mongolian Parliament.

Since the visit of the prime minister, India has been supporting Mongolia in various fields and cultural realms. India has printed 75 copies of 108 volumes of Mongolian Kanjur and handed them over to the Mongolian government and various Buddhist institutions there.

According to a July 9, 2020 release of the Union Ministry of Culture, Mongolian Kanjur, the Buddhist canonical text in 108 volumes, is considered to be the most important religious text in Mongolia.

In the Mongolian language ‘Kanjur’ means ‘Concise Orders’, the words of Lord Buddha in particular. It is held in high esteem by Mongolian Buddhists and they worship the Kanjur at temples and recite the lines of Kanjur in daily life as a sacred ritual.

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