COLOMBO: Sri Lankan Presi­dent Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickra­masinghe, along with members of the Buddhist clergy and other dignitaries, inaugurated the exposition of the Sacred Relics of Lord Buddha brought from Pakistan, at a ceremony on Saturday which marked the Buddhist festival of Vesak.

Vesak celebrates the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment, and departure from the human world.

The Buddhist festival, generally celebrated in Sri Lanka on a grand scale was commemorated this year on a subdued note owing to the national disaster caused by floods and landslides.

The relics sent from Pakistan, which are part of collection from Taxila Museum, are open for public exposition till mid-June and will be taken throughout the country enabling all Sri Lankans to view them and will be brought back to Colombo on June 22, the Pakistan Embassy said.

The exposition will take place in Gampaga, Kurunegala, Kalutara, Hambantota, Moneragala, Ampara, Badulla, Polonnaruwa and Anura­dhapura districts.

The sacred relics include a golden casket containing the relics and a stone reliquary in stupa shape.

The relic caskets of steatite with a miniature gold casket inside containing holy bone relics were those found near the Dharmarajika stupa which is the earliest and the largest Buddhist religious complex at Taxila.

Dharmarajika was excavated by Ghulam Qadir in 1912-16 under the directions of Sir John Marshall and by A.D. Siddiqui in 1934-36. The circular stupa has a diameter of 131 feet and 45 feet high drum, constructed in solid stone masonry.

The Gandhara civilisation to which the relics belong was not only the centre of spiritual influence but also the cradle of the world famous Gandhara culture, art and learning and it was from these centres that a unique art of sculpture originated which is known as Gandhara Art all over the world, the Pakistan Embassy said in a statement.

Published in Dawn, May 23rd, 2016