Buddha’s Piprahwa relics go on view in Tawang, Bomdila and Namsai from 31 October

Sacred relics of the Buddha, held at the National Museum in New Delhi, will be taken to Arunachal Pradesh for three weeks of public veneration at Tawang, Bomdila and Namsai, beginning on 31 October.

The Ministry of Culture is organising the exposition from 31 October to 21 November 2026 with the Arunachal Pradesh government, the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC) and the National Museum. Culture and Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat is to attend the inaugural ceremony at Tawang Monastery, also known as Gaden Namgyal Lhatse, between 10 am and 11:30 am on 31 October. Chief Minister Pema Khandu will be chief guest at a further inaugural function on 1 November.

The opening coincides with Lhabab Düchen, a Tibetan Buddhist festival marking the Buddha's descent from the heavenly realm.

The journey

After ceremonies at the museum on the night of 30 October, the relics will go to Air Force Station Palam. They are to leave early on 31 October on a special Indian Air Force aircraft for Air Force Station Borjhar in Guwahati, and then travel by helicopter to Tawang. The ministry said timings remain subject to operational, weather and security conditions.

Where and when to see them

Dates	Venue	Programme
31 October 2026	Gaden Namgyal Lhatse, Tawang Monastery	Arrival, ceremonial reception and inaugural ceremony
1–7 November 2026	Tawang Monastery	Public darshan and exposition
8–13 November 2026	TGL Monastery (Lower Gompa), Bomdila	Public darshan and exposition
14–20 November 2026	Golden Pagoda, Namsai	Public darshan and exposition
21 November 2026	Namsai–Tezu–New Delhi	Ceremonial departure and return of the Holy Relics to the National Museum

On 8 November the relics will move by helicopter and road to Bomdila, and on 14 November to the Golden Pagoda at Namsai. They return to Delhi on 21 November via Tezu Airport.

What the relics are

The relics come from Piprahwa in Siddharthnagar district, Uttar Pradesh, a site associated with ancient Kapilavastu. William Claxton Peppé excavated a stupa there in 1898. Excavations by the Archaeological Survey of India between 1971 and 1977, under archaeologist K. M. Srivastava, found two caskets with 12 and 10 bone fragments: 22 relics in all. Twenty are kept at the National Museum and two at the Indian Museum, Kolkata.

The ministry noted the 2025 return to India of the Piprahwa jewel collection linked to the 1898 discovery, after it had been put up for international auction, ending an absence of about 127 years.

Why Arunachal

The ministry said the three venues represent different Buddhist traditions: Mahayana and Vajrayana in Tawang and West Kameng, and the Theravada tradition of the Tai Khamti and other communities around Namsai.

Also planned

• An IBC exhibition, "Unearthing the Sacred Piprahwa", at all three venues, tracing the discoveries and the return of the jewels.
• An international conference, "Buddhism: Dissemination in the Himalayan Region and Beyond", at Kalawangpo Convention Hall, Tawang, on 2 November, with monks and scholars from India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia and Germany.

The Arunachal government is handling security, crowd management, medical facilities and local transport at the venues, while the National Museum is responsible for handling and conserving the relics.

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Source: official release by the Ministry of Culture, issued through the Press Information Bureau, Government of India (30 OCT 2026 10:35AM by PIB Delhi). Read the full official text: Holy Relics of Lord Buddha to be Exposed for Public Veneration in Arunachal Pradesh from 31 October to 21 November 2026.