The sacred Relics of the Buddha from the National Museum, New Delhi, will be taken to Russia’s Kalmykia Republic for the first time to be enshrined and venerated at the 3rd International Buddhist Forum in Elista from September 24–28, 2025, the Ministry of Culture said in a statement on Monday.
Organised by the ministry in collaboration with the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC), the National Museum, and the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), the event will mark the first-ever exposition of the Buddha’s relics in Kalmykia – the only Buddhist republic in Europe. The highlight of the forum, themed “Buddhism in the New Millennium”, will be the enshrinement of Shakyamuni’s Sacred Relics at the Geden Sheddup Choikorling Monastery (Golden Abode of Shakyamuni Buddha), the largest Buddhist monastery in Europe.
The holy relics will be transported with full religious protocol aboard a special Indian Air Force aircraft and escorted by senior monks. A high-level Indian delegation, led by Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, will accompany the relics. The IBC delegation will include eminent Buddhist leaders such as 43rd Sakya Trizin Rinpoche, 13th Kundeling Taktsak Rinpoche, 7th Yongzin Ling Rinpoche, and 17 other senior monks. A special blessing ceremony will be held for devotees in Elista.
The forum will also witness the signing of two MoUs – one between the Central Spiritual Administration of Buddhist Russia and the International Buddhist Confederation, and another with Nalanda University – to strengthen spiritual and academic collaboration.
Three major exhibitions will be displayed at the event, showcasing sculptures and artworks depicting the “Four Great Events in the Life of the Buddha,” the sacred legacy of the Shakyas from Piprahwa (ancient Kapilavastu), and “The Art of Stillness – Buddhist Art from the National Collection.” Eminent artist Padma Shri Vasudev Kamath will also present his works.
The event will bring together spiritual leaders and scholars from over 35 countries, with IBC demonstrating “Norbu – The Kalyana Mitta”, an AI-powered chatbot in Russian designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of Buddha Dhamma. Additionally, the Holy ‘Kanjur’ – a set of 108 volumes of Mongolian Buddhist scriptures – will be presented to nine Buddhist institutes and a university.
This historic exposition follows similar international journeys of the relics in recent years, including Mongolia (2022), Thailand (2024), and Vietnam (2025). The relics being taken to Kalmykia are part of the revered collection housed in the Buddhist Gallery of the National Museum in Delhi.
