The Ministry of Culture has successfully intervened to stop the auction of the Piprahwa Buddhist relics in Hong Kong, marking a significant diplomatic and cultural win for India.
The sacred artifacts, which include bone fragments believed to be of the historical Buddha, were scheduled to go under the hammer at Sotheby’s on May 7.
The relics had been listed for sale by Chris Peppé, great-grandson of British engineer William Claxton Peppé, who excavated them in 1898 from a stupa in Piprahwa, located in present-day Uttar Pradesh.
The excavation yielded bone relics, crystal and soapstone caskets, a sandstone coffer, and a trove of offerings—gold, semi-precious stones,by’ and ornaments. An ancient Brahmi inscription on one of the urns attributed the relics to the Sakya clan, confirming their link to the Buddha himself.
While most of the relics were transferred to the Indian Museum in Kolkata by 1899 and are protected under India’s antiquities law, a portion of the funerary items had remained with Peppé’s descendants. These were recently listed for auction in Hong Kong, prompting an immediate response from Indian authorities.
The Ministry of Culture moved quickly. On May 2, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) reached out to the Indian Consulate in Hong Kong, urging immediate diplomatic intervention. That same day, Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat raised the issue during a bilateral meeting with UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, underscoring the spiritual and cultural importance of the relics to millions of Buddhists around the world.
By May 5, the ministry had issued a legal notice to Sotheby’s and the seller, calling for the auction to be halted. The Ministry of External Affairs was also drawn in to coordinate follow-ups through Indian missions in London and Hong Kong.
Sources said that on May 6, a high-level Indian delegation—including senior officials from the Culture Ministry, MEA’s East Asia Division, and the Indian Consul General in Hong Kong—met with Sotheby’s representatives in person. During the meeting, the Indian side reiterated its position: these were not ordinary artifacts, but sacred objects that rightly belong to India.
Late on Tuesday, Sotheby’s officially communicated its decision to postpone the sale. The auction page was taken down, and the auction house proposed further discussions on the matter.
The push to stop the sale also drew global support. UNESCO officials, Buddhist organizations from India and Sri Lanka, and heritage experts weighed in. Art historian Naman Ahuja submitted a formal representation via the Prime Minister’s grievance portal, while the issue found traction across Indian and international media.
With the auction now on hold, the government is expected to begin negotiations for the relics’ formal repatriation. Officials indicated that further diplomatic and legal channels would be pursued to bring the relics back to India.
“These relics are not just archaeological heritage—they are sacred symbols of faith,” a senior Culture Ministry official said. “Their rightful place is in India, not on an auction block.”
