Piprahwa Gems of the Historical Buddha
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Vandana Kalra, May 6, 2025: The Indian Express
India is trying to stop the auction of an extraordinary historical treasure – relics that were found more than 125 years ago at an archaeological site intimately connected with the life of Lord Buddha, which was carried away by the British colonial landowner who discovered them.
The relics, “found buried together in reliquaries with the corporeal relics of the Historical Buddha” have been described by the auctioneer Sotheby’s as being “among the most extraordinary archaeological discoveries of all time”.
On May 5, the Ministry of Culture served notice on Sotheby’s and the family of William Claxton Peppé, the man who carried out the excavation at Piprahwa in Siddharthnagar district in UP close to the Nepal border, demanding “immediate cessation” of the auction and repatriation of the relics to India.
The Ministry posted on X that the auctioneer had “responded to the legal notice with the assurance that full attention is being given to this matter”. However, on Tuesday evening, the auction website was live, and a clock was counting down to its scheduled beginning at 10.25 am in Hong Kong (about 8 am in India) on May 7.
“The Piprahwa Gems of the Historical Buddha”, as Sotheby’s has described the collection that is going under the hammer, is expected to fetch around HK $100 million.
According to the Indian legal notice, the collection includes “bone fragments, soapstone and crystal caskets, a sandstone coffer, and offerings such as gold ornaments and gemstones”, which were “excavated…from the Piprahwa Stupa – widely identified as ancient Kapilavastu”, the capital of the Shakya “republic” of the 5th-6th centuries BCE where Prince Siddhartha lived before leaving home in his search for the truth.
The relics, the notice says, are an “inalienable religious and cultural heritage of India and the global Buddhist community”, and their sale “violates Indian and international laws, as well as United Nations conventions”.
How were the relics discovered?
In 1898, Peppé, an English estate manager and engineer, during an excavation found a stupa at Piprahwa, just south of Lumbini believed to be the birthplace of Lord Buddha. Upon further excavation, he discovered an enormous stone coffer, which contained gems, precious metals, and some of the cremated remains of the Buddha, who died about 480 BC.
“William Peppé had seemingly unearthed one of the original eight stupas said to contain the ashes and bone fragments of the Buddha, distributed after his cremation. It is believed that the Buddha’s own Sakya clan had built this stupa to honour the relics of their ‘illustrious kinsman’ Gautama Buddha,” according to the website of The Piprahwa Project which is run by Peppé’s family.
The British Crown claimed the found relics from Peppé under the 1878 Indian Treasure Trove Act. Most of the gems and precious metals (nearly 1,800 pearls, rubies, topaz, sapphires, and patterned gold sheets) went to what is now the Indian Museum in Kolkata.
However, a fifth of the total find — consisting of duplicates of the main collection — were retained by Peppé. It is these gems that are now being auctioned by Sotheby’s.
Why are there objections to the auction?
Buddhist academics and monastic leaders have condemned the auctioning of the ancient Indian gem relics, asserting that they are part of Buddhist heritage.
Amal Abeyawardene of London-based British MahaBodhi Society, told the BBC: “The Buddha teaches us not to take other people’s possessions without permission… Historical records indicate that the Sakyamuni clan were granted custody of these relics, as the Buddha emanated from their community. Their wish was for these relics to be preserved alongside adornments, such as these gems, so that they may be venerated in perpetuity by the Buddha’s followers.”
In its notice to Sotheby’s and Chris Peppé, great-grandson of William, the Ministry of Culture said the gems “are inseparable from the sacred relics and cannot be commodified”.
It also said that Chris “lacks authority” to sell the relics and they are protected under Indian laws — the 1972 Antiques and Art Treasures Act, the 1958 Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, and the 1878 Indian Treasure Trove Act.
