Piprahwa Relics
Published on 26 Oct 2025
India's Culture Ministry will display ancient Buddhist relics, discovered in 1898 at Piprahwa, Uttar Pradesh.
In 1898, William Claxton 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.
It is believed that the Buddha’s own Sakya clan had built this stupa to honour the relics of Gautama Buddha.
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.
Interestingly, Sotheby’s (an auction house in Japan) and the family of William Claxton Peppé planned an auction of some of the items recently that they held privately.
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/127-years-in-vault-veil-to-lift-on-buddhist-relics-10054188/