The Piprahwa Gems, Buddhist relics taken by an English explorer from a sacred burial ground in British-occupied India in 1898, have been repatriated and will go on display to the public, the Indian government announced on Wednesday.
The gems are back in their “rightful home of India” according to a statement by the Indian culture ministry.
The Indian government secured their return after intervening in a planned auction of the gems. They had been scheduled to be sold at a Sotheby’s auction in Hong Kong in May on behalf of the English descendants of William Claxton Peppé, who dug them up more than 120 years ago.
Instead, an Indian conglomerate, Godrej Industries Group, bought the gems, according to a statement from Sotheby’s. The auction house did not disclose the sale price.
In its announcement, India’s ministry of culture praised its collaboration with Godrej Industries as an “exemplary public-private partnership,” without giving further detail.
The collection comprises more than 300 delicate gems — some just millimeters in length, arranged in intricate patterns of circles and lines. Found alongside bone and ash said to be remains of Buddha, they are among the holiest relics in contemporary religion.
Sotheby’s postponed its May auction after India’s culture ministry issued a legal ordersaying that the Peppé family did not have the authority to sell the objects and that the relics should be returned to India for “preservation and religious veneration.”
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The gems are back in their “rightful home of India” according to a statement by the Indian culture ministry.
The Indian government secured their return after intervening in a planned auction of the gems. They had been scheduled to be sold at a Sotheby’s auction in Hong Kong in May on behalf of the English descendants of William Claxton Peppé, who dug them up more than 120 years ago.
Instead, an Indian conglomerate, Godrej Industries Group, bought the gems, according to a statement from Sotheby’s. The auction house did not disclose the sale price.
In its announcement, India’s ministry of culture praised its collaboration with Godrej Industries as an “exemplary public-private partnership,” without giving further detail.
The collection comprises more than 300 delicate gems — some just millimeters in length, arranged in intricate patterns of circles and lines. Found alongside bone and ash said to be remains of Buddha, they are among the holiest relics in contemporary religion.
Sotheby’s postponed its May auction after India’s culture ministry issued a legal ordersaying that the Peppé family did not have the authority to sell the objects and that the relics should be returned to India for “preservation and religious veneration.”
Ancient Gems Linked to Buddha Are Returned to India
Sotheby’s had canceled an auction of the Piprahwa Gems after pressure from the Indian government. India said the relics were back in their “rightful home.”
