Holiness for sale? Dispute about the Buddha relics before the auction in Hong Kong

The Indian Ministry of Culture threatened to take legal steps against the auction house of Sotheby's in Hong Kong, if he did not stop the auction of gems related to the Buddha relics – BBC said on Tuesday. The Indian government demanded a return of precious stones. The auction is to take place on Wednesday.

The Indian Ministry of Culture in the issued statement stated that the sale “violates Indian and international rights, as well as UN conventions” and demanded that the jewels be treated as holy.

The auction also met with criticism from many Buddhists and art researchers around the world.

The Sotheby's Auction House announced that the case is considered by him.

The ministry also turned to Chris Peppe, the great -grandson of William Claxton Peppe, who led excavations in India in 1898. It was found that sellers who consider themselves the owners of precious stones have no right to “dispose of or misappropriation of their property”, which, as defined, is a “extraordinary heritage of humanity.”

Chris Peppe in an interview with the BBC said that the family was considering passing the relics to the faithful, but – in her opinion – it turned out to be too big a problem and the auction seemed to them “the most fair and transparent way to convey these relics to Buddhists.”

Found by William Claxton Peppe, the collection contains almost 1,800 pearls, rubies, topazes, sapphires and patterned gold tiles and the urn, in which there were bones, recognized as the relics of Buddha. Treasure, dated to over 2,000 years, it was discovered in today's State Uttar Prades, in a place considered to be the birthplace of the Buddha. Nicolas Chow, chairman of Sotheby's Asia, believes that this is “one of the most unusual archaeological discoveries of all time.”

Shortly after his discovery, William Peppe gave the jewels and relics to the Indian authorities at the time. Today, the jewel and bones are in the collection of the Indian Museum in Calcutta. Only a small part remained in the hands of the finder's family. According to Sotheby's Houses, Peppe could stop Okp by one fifth treasure.

The ministry in its statement emphasized that the jewels “cannot be treated as specimens”, but as “holy objects, made in the grave and offered to the Holy Body” Buddha. (PAP)

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