The Indian government has issued a legal notice to halt the “unethical” May 7 auction of the Piprahwa gems, a set of venerated jewels linked to the Buddha's mortal remains, by Sotheby's in Hong Kong.
The Ministry of Culture in a statement said the auction “violates Indian and international laws, as well as United Nations conventions”. They further demanded their repatriation to India “for preservation and religious veneration”.
The legal notice has also been served to the gems’ “custodian” Chris Peppé, one of three heirs of William Claxton Peppé. William was a British colonial landowner who in 1898 excavated the gems from inside a brick chamber in Piprahwa, present-day Uttar Pradesh, near the Buddha's birthplace.
The gems are a collection of nearly 1,800 pearls, rubies, topaz, sapphires, and patterned gold sheets. And were originally buried in a dome-shaped funerary monument, called a stupa, in about 240-200 BC. These gems were found to be mixed with some of the cremated remains of the Buddha, who died about 480 BC.
Scholars and monastic leaders argue that historical records indicate the Sakyamuni clan were granted custody of these relics, as the Buddha arose from their community.
The much maligned auction is expected to fetch about HK$100m (£9.7m).
