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 order saying 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.”
The relics were “part of India’s and the global Buddhist community’s spiritual and cultural heritage,” the Indian culture ministry said at the time. “Their sale violates Indian laws, international norms, and U.N. conventions.”
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India wrote on social media that it was “a joyous day” for his country. “These sacred relics highlight India’s close association with Bhagwan Buddha and his noble teachings,” he wrote, using a Hindi word for god.
Mr. Peppé found the artifacts while excavating land in Piprahwa, a village in northern India, at a sacred burial ground known as a stupa near where Buddha is believed to have been buried.
He turned over much of the find to the British state, which occupied India at the time. He donated other parts to scholars and museums, including the Indian Museum in Kolkata, but was permitted to keep some relics, which were passed down in his family.
Members of the Peppé family said in a statement shared by Sotheby’s that they were excited to return the gems to India, where they would join the collection already on display at the Kolkata museum.
“We are happy that the true significance of the Piprahwa discovery has finally received the public recognition it always deserved,” the statement said.
Claire Moses is a Times reporter in London, focused on coverage of breaking and trending news.
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