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20 Jun 2022 Relics of Mahatma Buddha

Posted at 10:34h in Daily current-affairs by khyati khare 0 Comments

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Four sacred relics of Lord Buddha are being taken from India to Mongolia for an 11-day exhibition on the occasion of Mongolian Buddha Purnima celebrations.
These relics are to be displayed at the Batsagan Temple in the Gandan Monastery Complex in Ulaanbaatar.
The four relics are among the 22 relics of Buddha, which are currently kept in the National Museum in Delhi.
Also they are known as ‘Kapilvastu relics’ because they have been recovered from a place in Bihar which is believed to be the ancient city of Kapilvastu. This place was discovered in 1898.
Those relics are sacred objects associated with holy persons.
They can be body parts (teeth, hair, bones) or other objects that the holy person has used or touched.
In many traditions it is believed that relics have special powers to heal people, bestow grace or drive away demons.

According to Buddhist beliefs, at the age of 80, Buddha attained salvation in Kushinagar district of Uttar Pradesh.
The Mallas of Kushinagar performed the last rites of his body with ceremonies as a universal king.
His remains were collected from the funeral pyre and divided into eight parts, namely Ajatashatru of Magadha, Lichchavi of Vaishali, Shakya of Kapilvastu, Malla of Kushinagar, Bullij of Allakappa, Malla of Pava, Kolia of Ramgram and Vethadipa. Distributed among a brahmin. The Hindu Analysis
Its purpose was to build a stupa over the sacred relics.
After this two more stupas are found, one of which has been built over the collected Asti Kalash and the other over the ember (wooden unburned coal).
The stupas (Saririka Stupa) built on the remains of the Buddha’s body are the earliest surviving Buddhist temples. Seven of these eight stupas were built by Ashoka (272–232 BC), and he collected the bulk of the remains within the 84,000 stupas he built in an effort to popularize the cult of stupas alongside Buddhism.

The discovery of an excavated coffin at the stupa site at Piprahwa (near Siddharthnagar, UP) in the year 1898 helped identify ancient Kapilavastu.
The inscription on the cover of the coffin refers to the relics of the Buddha and his community, the Shakyas.
The excavation of another stupa by the Archaeological Survey of India during the year 1971-77 revealed two rock-cut coffins containing a total of 22 sacred bone relics, which are now under the care of the National Museum.
After this more than 40 terracotta prints were discovered from different levels and places in the Eastern Monastery of Piprahwa, which proved that Piprahwa was the ancient Kapilavastu.

During the 11-day visit, the relics will be accorded ‘State Guest’ status in Mongolia and will again be taken to the National Museum of India.
The Indian Air Force has provided a special aircraft, the C-17 Globemaster, for travel, which is one of the largest aircraft available in India.
In the year 2015, the sacred relics were placed under the ‘AA’ category of antiquities and art treasures, which should not be taken out of the country for exhibition in view of their fragile nature.

He was born as Siddhartha in about 563 BC into a royal family at Lumbini, which is located near the Indo-Nepal border.
His family belonged to the Shakya dynasty, which ruled in Kapilavastu, Lumbini.
At the age of 29, Gautam renounced home and renounced worldly life and adopted a lifestyle of austerity or extreme self-discipline. Today Current Affairs
After 49 consecutive days of meditation, Gautam attained Bodhi (knowledge) under a peepal tree in Bodh Gaya, Bihar.
Buddha gave his first sermon in Sarnath village near Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. This event is known as turning of the wheel of Dharma. Today Current Affairs
He died in 483 BC at the age of 80 in Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh. This event is known as Mahaparinirvana.
He is considered to be the eighth incarnation of the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu (Dashavatar).