ASI team in Afghanistan to authenticate Buddha's begging bowl

A team of officials from the Archaeological Survey of India is in Afghanistan to ascertain the authenticity of a 'Bhiksha Patra' (bowl used for begging), said to be of Lord Buddha, which is on display at Kabul Museum.
The two officials, P K Mishra, Director, Heritage Byelaws, Kolkata and G S Khwaja, Director, In-charge, Epigraphy Branch, Nagur (Arabic and Persian) are inspecting the bowl. They have already left for Afghanistan, ASI sources said.
"The officials would primarily study Arabic inscriptions over the bowl. Besides, they would study about the year, which the bowl belongs to," a senior official with ASI said. The officials would submit a report to ASI, after their exploration, the sources added.

The huge greenish-grey granite bowl weighs 400 kg and has a diameter of about 1.75 metres, height of almost four metres and thickness of 18 cm at its rim. The vessel is currently displayed at the National Museum of Afghanistan.
A strong demand for bringing back the begging bowl used by Gautama Buddha from the Kabul museum and installing it at its original place at Vaishali in Bihar was made by RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh in Lok Sabha in August last year.
It is said that Buddha donated the bowl to the people of Vaishali. Later on, it was taken to Peshawar and then to Kandahar and finally to Kabul.