India
Buddha Relics Set for Three‑Week Tour of Arunachal Pradesh
By PTI
Relics linked to Lord Buddha, currently housed at the National Museum in Delhi, will travel to Arunachal Pradesh for a three‑week exposition from October 31 to November 21. The display will begin in Tawang on October 31, where the relics will be shown at the Tawang Memorial until November 1, after which they will move to Bomdila and Namsai, reflecting the state’s Buddhist heritage.
Union Minister of Culture and Tourism Gajendra Singh Shekhawat will attend the inaugural ceremony at the historic Gaden Namgyal Lhatse. The exposition is organised by the Ministry of Culture in partnership with the Arunachal Pradesh government, the International Buddhist Confederation and the National Museum.
After a night of ceremonial observances at the National Museum on October 30, the relics will be transported from Air Force Station Palam to Borjhar in Guwahati by a special Indian Air Force aircraft, then by helicopter to Tawang. Upon arrival, they will receive a religious ceremony and be installed at the Tawang Monastery for the October 31 inauguration. A second opening function, with Chief Minister Pema Khandu as chief guest, will take place on November 1, coinciding with the final day of the International Tourism Mart 2026 in Tawang.
The itinerary includes further movements: on November 8 the relics will fly from Tawang to Rupa by helicopter, then travel by road to Bomdila, where they will be ceremonially received at Upper Gompa before installation at Lower Gompa. On November 14 they will move from Bomdila to Rupa by road, then by helicopter to Nalung Helipad in Namsai, and be displayed at the Golden Pagoda. After public viewing in Namsai, the relics will return to the National Museum on November 21 via Tezu Airport and Palam.
The relics originate from Piprahwa in Siddharthnagar district, Uttar Pradesh. In 1898 William Claxton Peppé excavated a stupa there and uncovered reliquaries with bone fragments and precious objects. Further excavations by the Archaeological Survey of India between 1971 and 1977 revealed two additional reliquary caskets containing 22 bone relics traditionally associated with Buddha. Twenty of these are kept at the National Museum in New Delhi, and two at the Indian Museum in Kolkata. The relics are considered exceptionally rare and hold profound religious reverence for Buddhist communities.
The Ministry of Culture is coordinating with the Ministry of Defence, the Indian Air Force, the Arunachal Pradesh government and other agencies to ensure the relics’ sanctity, security and conservation throughout the tour.