In 1898, William Peppé, a British engineer, excavated the Piprahwa stupa near Siddharthnagar in Uttar Pradesh (nine miles from Lumbini, the birthplace of Siddhartha Gautama), and found bone fragments, ashes, and hundreds of gems. The inscription claimed the bones were those of the Buddha himself. These relics were distributed to museums in India and abroad, but a portion of the gems stayed with Peppé’s family.

When Sotheby’s planned to auction them in Hong Kong in 2025, the Government of India objected, calling them part of its spiritual heritage. The sale was blocked, and eventually the Godrej Group acquired them and brought them back to the country for public display. A 2,200-year-old act of veneration was restored to its rightful place. This incident draws attention to the importance of stupas in ancient India.

The Piprahwa gems that were put up for auction in Hong Kong | Photo Credit: Courtesy sothebys.com

The stupa has a long history. And it transformed over time, in form as well as content. In the beginning, the stupa was about the Buddha’s body. According to tradition, when the Buddha died, his body was cremated, his relics collected and divided into eight portions and enshrined in different stupas by kings and republics who wanted a share of his presence. Later, Ashoka........

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