Buddha relics from India figure in Lanka's Vesak festival

Sacred Buddhist Relics from India's Sarnath are on display in Sri Lanka for public veneration to mark Vesak, a festival that commemorates the birth, enlightenment and death of Gautama Buddha.

Relics from India and Pakistan are on exposition at Temple Trees, the official residence of the Sri Lankan Prime Minister during the Vesak week.

They will be on exposition outside capital Colombo until May 16, officials said.

The Indian High Commission said that this was the first time that sacred relics from Sarnath have been brought to Sri Lanka. Previously the Kapilavastu relics brought from India had been displayed for Buddhists to pay homage.

"The sacred relics from Sarnath are yet another manifestation of the shared Buddhist heritage of India and Sri Lanka, which forms the spiritual bond between our two nations," the Indian High Commission said.