Aravalli: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to Thailand on Thursday, announced that India will send sacred relics of Lord Buddha, discovered in Aravalli in the 1960s, to Thailand for devotees to offer their prayers. He made this declaration while addressing a joint press conference alongside Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra in Bangkok.

Highlighting the deep cultural ties between the two nations, PM Modi recalled how India had previously sent Buddha’s relics to Thailand. “Last year, the Holy Relics of Lord Buddha were sent from India to Thailand. It is a matter of great pleasure that more than four million devotees got the opportunity to pay their tributes. I am extremely happy to announce that the Holy Relics found in Aravali, Gujarat in 1960 will also be sent to Thailand for an exposition,” he said.

In 2024, sacred relics of Lord Buddha, along with those of his disciples Arahata Sariputta and Arahata Maha Moggallana, were exhibited across four Thai cities from February 22 to March 18.

Typically preserved in New Delhi’s National Museum, these relics are rarely taken out for public display. Their recent enshrinement in Thailand marked the first time Buddha’s remains, along with those of Sariputta and Maha Moggallana from Sanchi, were displayed together, as noted by Indian Ambassador Nagesh Singh.

According to Gujarat Tourism, the relics were excavated from Devni Mori, an ancient Buddhist monastery site dating back to the 3rd–4th century AD. The discovery included an inscribed casket explicitly stating that it contained Buddha’s bodily relics.

PM Modi is in Thailand for the sixth BIMSTEC Summit, a key regional forum aimed at strengthening cooperation between nations in the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) group. The summit is scheduled for Friday. DeshGujarat