Ancient Buddha-linked Piprahwa gems set for auction despite backlash

The British crown had claimed the gems fall under the 1878 Indian Treasure Trove Act, with the bones and ash gifted to the Buddhist monarch King Chulalongkorn of Siam

Buddhist scholars and monks from around the world expressed concerns over the auction of ancient Indian gemstone relics which they say were widely considered to be imbued with the presence of the Buddha.

 

The sale of the Piprahwa gems is scheduled to occur in Hong Kong next week. Sotheby’s description characterises them as possessing “unparalleled religious, archaeological and historical significance” and numerous Buddhists viewed them as physical remains, which had been violated by a British colonial landowner.

 

The relics were discovered interred in a stupa, or burial monument, in Piprahwa, located in present-day Uttar Pradesh, India. According to an inscription carved into one of the reliquaries, the stupa contained the remains of the Buddha himself. The gems were believed to have been combined with some of the cremated remains of the Buddha, who died around 480 BC.

 

 

The gems are being auctioned by three descendants of British engineer William Claxton Peppé, who excavated them on his estate in northern India in 1898. The gems are anticipated to fetch around 9.7 million pounds. The British crown had claimed Peppé’s discovery under the 1878 Indian Treasure Trove Act. The majority of the 1,800 gems were sent to the colonial museum in Kolkata, while Peppé was allowed to keep about one-fifth of them. The bones and ash were gifted to the Buddhist monarch King Chulalongkorn of Siam.

 

 

Ashley Thompson of Soas University of London and curator Conan Cheong, both Southeast Asian art specialists, assert that from the gems, bone, and ash are all considered Buddha's remains by Buddhists and should not be auctioned to whoever pays most.

Chris Peppé, great-grandson of William Claxton Peppé and co-owner of the gems with two relatives, stated that none of the Buddhist temples or experts he consulted during the past decade classified these items as bodily remains.