HONG KONG (Reuters) -A collection of hundreds of jewels linked to Buddha’s corporeal relics has returned to India after 127 years following an auction planned for earlier this year that drew threats of legal action from the government in Delhi.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday hailed the return of the collection, known as the Piprahwa Gems of the Historical Buddha Mauryan Empire, Ashokan Era, circa 240-200 BCE.
“A joyous day for our cultural heritage!” Modi wrote in a post on X. “It would make every Indian proud.”
The collection was originally scheduled to be auctioned by Sotheby’s in Hong Kong in May but the sale was postponed after India’s government threatened legal action and demanded the jewels be returned.
Sotheby’s subsequently identified a buyer and secured a sale that saw the permanent return of the gems to India, where they would be placed on public display.
“Sotheby’s is delighted to have facilitated the return of the Piprahwa Gems to India,” the auction house said in a statement late on Wednesday.
“This completes our active search over the past two months to identify the best possible custodian for the gems,” it added, without disclosing the name of the buyer.
The gems were unearthed in 1898 from an ancient stupa in Piprahwa, northern India, by English estate manager William Claxton Peppe. Peppe was later allowed to keep more than 300 duplicate gems, which remained in his family.
(Reporting by Clare Jim; Editing by Kate Mayberry)
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