Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the wisdom and path shown by Bhagwan Buddha belong to all of humanity and his sacred relics are not merely artefacts but part of India's revered heritage.
Inaugurating the grand international exposition of the sacred Piprahwa Relics, which were discovered in 1898, PM Modi said Lord Buddha belongs to everyone and unites all the people.
Here are top updates from PM Modi’s address.
-"For India, the sacred relics of Bhagwan Buddha are not merely artefacts, they are a part of our revered heritage and an inseparable part of our civilisation," the prime minister said at the event here in the presence of Buddhist scholars, diplomats and other guests.
-After a wait of one and a quarter centuries, he said, India's heritage has returned, and India's sacred legacy has come back home. The wisdom and path shown by Bhagwan Buddha belong to all of humanity, he said.
-India is not just the protector of the heritage of Lord Buddha, but the carrier of his traditions, PM Modi said.
-When I was the CM of Gujarat, thousands of relics related to Lord Buddha were discovered there, and today our government is protecting them as well as imparting the related knowledge to the present generation, the prime minister said.
-Buddhist sites are being modernised today and new facilities are being built for the pilgrims, he said. “We are trying to impart the Pali language, related to Lord Buddha, to the masses, and hence, it has been given the status of classical language," PM Modi said.
-PM Modi also thanked the Godrej Group for ensuring that the relics of Buddha return to his homeland. The Piprahwa Relics hold a central place in the archaeological study of early Buddhism. The relics are among the earliest and most historically significant deposits directly connected to Bhagwan Buddha, according to an official statement.
The wisdom and path shown by Bhagwan Buddha belong to all of humanity.
Archaeological evidence associates the Piprahwa site with ancient Kapilavastu, widely identified as the place where Bhagwan Buddha spent his early life before renunciation.
-Lord Buddha had a deep impact on my life. I was born in a city which was a major centre of Buddhist teachings, the PM said. “Sarnath, my Karmabhoomi, is the place where Lord Buddha gave his first teachings... I tried to spread the heritage of Lord Buddha wherever I went and therefore took the Bodhi plant when I went to China, Japan, Mongolia,” Modi said.
