New Delhi: The sending of ancient Buddhist relics from India to Thailand has sparked a profound spiritual fervour across the Southeast Asian nation. The relics belonging to the two chief revered disciples of Buddha, Sariputta and Moggallana, have drawn thousands of devotees in a remarkable display of religious devotion and cultural affinity.
This act of goodwill by India, the birthplace of Buddhism, has been met with immense gratitude and appreciation from the people of Thailand, a country where the Buddhist faith is intrinsically woven into the fabric of society. As the sacred relics make their way through various cities, including Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Krabi and Ubon Ratchathani, they serve as a powerful reminder of the deep-rooted historical, religious and cultural ties that bind the two nations.
This exchange of spiritual treasures not only reinforces the enduring bond between India and Thailand, but also underscores the role of cultural diplomacy as a potent force in fostering understanding and harmony among diverse civilisations. “The historic loan of relics of the Lord Buddha and his chief disciples Sariputra and Moggallana to Thailand has created excitement among Buddhist Thais,” Titipol Phakdeewanich, a political scientist at the Faculty of Political Science at Ubon Ratchathani University, wrote in an article titled ‘India’s Buddhist diplomacy in action’ in the Bangkok Post.
“It was an act of gracious generosity by the Indian government because the relics are classified in the ‘AA’ (rare) category of antiquities and art treasures,” Titipol stated. “Under this classification, the relics are not meant to be lent for exhibition within and outside India.” The relics were sent by India last month to commemorate the auspicious 6th Cycle and the 72nd birth year of Thailand’s King Rama X and as a mark of enduring friendship between the people of India and Thailand.
After the exposition of the relics at the Sanam Luang Royal Palace ground in Bangkok from February 24 to March 3, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, earlier this week, urged devotees to pay obeisance at Chiang Mai, Ubon Ratchathani and Krabi, where these will be enshrined in the coming days.
“The ideals of Lord Buddha serve as a spiritual bridge between India and Thailand, fostering a deep-rooted connection. I am glad the devotees had a spiritually rich experience and I urge devotees to pay obeisance at Chiang Mai, Ubon Ratchathani and Krabi where the relics will be enshrined in the coming days,” Modi posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Why are Sariputta and Moggallana so revered in Buddhism?
Sariputta and Moggallana were regarded as the two principal disciples of the Buddha, each renowned for their exceptional qualities. Sariputta was esteemed for his profound wisdom, while Moggallana was revered for his extraordinary psychic abilities. Buddhist scriptures recount that the two were childhood friends, who embarked on a spiritual quest in their youth, seeking truth from various contemporary masters. However, it was upon encountering the teachings of the Buddha that they found their spiritual calling and were ordained as monks under his guidance. The Buddha then bestowed upon them the esteemed title of his “chief pair of disciples, the excellent pair”, as described in the Mahapadana Sutta.
The texts portray Sariputta and Moggallana as having attained the exalted state of arahantship, playing pivotal roles in the Buddha’s ministry. They were entrusted with the training and guidance of the Buddha’s other disciples, with Sariputta being regarded as the Buddha's right-hand disciple and Moggallana as his left-hand disciple, a testament to their unwavering dedication and spiritual eminence.
Buddhist texts recount that Sariputta and Moggallana both attained parinirvana or the final release from the cycle of rebirth, a few months prior to the Buddha’s departure from this world. According to the accounts, Sariputta’s passing was a peaceful one, taking place in his hometown, and his remains were subsequently cremated in the city of Rajagaha. Sariputta’s brother, Cunda, then reverently brought his relics to the Buddha in Savatthi, where they were enshrined in a stupa at the renowned Jetavana monastery.
In contrast, the accounts surrounding Moggallana's demise depict a violent end, as he was brutally beaten by a group of bandits in a cave near Rajagaha. After his tragic death, Buddhist texts state that Moggallana’s relics were collected and enshrined in the Veḷuvana monastery, also located in the vicinity of Rajagaha. Over the centuries that followed, reports from esteemed Chinese pilgrims, such as Xuanzang, indicated that the relics of these two illustrious disciples could be found enshrined in stupas built by the great Emperor Asoka in the city of Mathura, a testament to their enduring veneration.
When and where were the relics found?
In 1851, British archaeologists Major Cunningham and Lieutenant Maisey embarked on an expedition to explore the renowned site of Sanchi, near Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, India. This site was renowned for its numerous Buddhist stupas, also known as “Topes”, dating back to the 3rd century BCE. Previous attempts to excavate these stupas had been made by Sir Thomas Herbert Maddock, who managed to breach the outer structures but failed to reach their innermost chambers. Cunningham and Maisey, however, employed a more strategic approach, excavating perpendicularly through the centre of the stupas, enabling them to successfully access and explore several of these ancient structures.
During their expedition, the archaeologists focused their efforts on Stupa number 3, where they made a remarkable discovery. Within an undisturbed chamber, they uncovered two sandstone boxes, each containing a steatite casket housing human bone fragments. The lids of these boxes bore inscriptions in the ancient Brahmi script, providing invaluable clues about their contents. The southern box was inscribed with ‘Sariputasa’, indicating that it contained the relics of Sariputta, while the northern box bore the inscription ‘Maha Mogalanasa’, revealing that it housed the relics of the esteemed Maha Moggallana. The relative positioning of these boxes also held profound religious significance, further underscoring the immense importance of this archaeological discovery.
According to Cunningham, people in ancient India sat facing the east during religious ceremonies and even used the word east (para) for “front”, as well as the word south (dakshina) for “right” and the word north (vami) for “left”, meaning the positioning of Sariputta’s casket toward the south and Moggallana’s casket toward the north symbolised each disciple’s relative positions as right and left-hand disciple respectively. This positioning has also been explained by the fact that the Buddha traditionally sat facing the east, which would make the south his right-hand side, and the north his left-hand side.
Where are the relics housed?
According to Gabe Hiemstra, who hosts the website Wisdom Library, the relics from both stupas were removed to England and placed in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
“The Sacred Relics were preserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum until 1939 when the Maha Bodhi Society approached the British government with a request that they be returned to India,” the website posting reads. “The request was at once granted, but owing to the outbreak of the Second World War in that year, the actual transfer was delayed for reasons of safety until February 24, 1947. On that date they were handed over to the representatives of the Maha Bodhi Society at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and so began their journey back to the land of their origin.”
Following the transfer of the relics from the British, they were put on display at the Colombo Museum (now called the National Museum of Colombo) in Sri Lanka where they were visited by an estimated two million people across different faiths. The relics remained in Sri Lanka for nearly two years before being transported to Calcutta (now Kolkata) in 1949, where they were formally received by the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and officially handed over to the Maha Bodhi Society of India. They were housed at the Dharmarajika Vihara, the headquarters of the Society, for two weeks where they received a constant stream of visitors, many of which Hindu and Muslim. The relics were then put on tour around northern India.
In 1950, the relics were sent to Burma for a two-month visit. Following the tour of the relics in Burma in 1950, then Burmese Prime Minister U Nu asked India for a portion of the relics for Burma (now Myanmar) to keep permanently. Later that year, Nehru agreed to make a “permanent loan”. U Nu then housed Myanmar’s share of the relics at the Kaba Aye Pagoda in Yangon.
Sri Lanka also obtained a portion of the relics, which were brought from Sanchi in 1952 and kept at the temple of the Maha Bodhi Society in Colombo. The relics are exhibited annually during the local celebration of the Buddha’s birthday, Vesak Day. The portion of the relics that stayed in India were also enshrined in 1952, at the Chethiyagiri Vihara in Sanchi, which was built by the Maha Bodhi Society specifically to house the relics. The vihara was funded in part by a donation from the Nawab of Bhopal as well as a land grant from the local Bhopal government.
The relics that are on loan from India to Thailand currently will be on a 25-day tour of the Southeast Asian nation. According to Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, after being enshrined in Bangkok from February 24 to March 3, the relics have now been enshrined in the city of Chiang Mai.
“From what I understand, over 350,000 people have paid their respects to the relics in Chiang Mai,” Jaiswal said during his weekly media briefing here on Friday. “It is a celebrated connect, a very beautiful connect, a shared connect of Buddhist heritage that we share with Thailand and people of several other countries in the region,” he said. Jaiswal also stated that the people of Thailand have been so appreciative of this goodwill gesture on the part of India that during the exposition of the relics at the Royal Garden in Bangkok, stall owners there refused to take money from Indian tourists.
Read more:Sacred Relics Of Lord Buddha Arrive In Bangkok For 26-Day Exposition
