“The Ministry of Culture has taken swift and comprehensive measures to stop the auction of the sacred Piprahwa relics, emphasising India’s firm commitment to preserving its cultural and religious heritage,” ministry officials stated on Monday.

The relics in question include bone fragments believed to belong to Gautama Buddha, housed in soapstone and crystal caskets, a sandstone coffer, and ceremonial offerings such as gold ornaments and gemstones.

These artefacts were discovered in Piprahwa, a village in Uttar Pradesh’s Siddharthnagar district, just a few kilometres from Lumbini, Nepal—the birthplace of Lord Buddha.

An inscription in Brahmi script on one of the caskets confirmed the relics’ identity as those of the Buddha, deposited by members of the Sakya clan.

The majority of these relics were transferred to the Indian Museum in Kolkata in 1899 and are classified as “AA” antiquities under Indian law, meaning they cannot be sold or exported.

However, a portion of the relics retained by the Peppé family is now listed for auction.

On Monday, the Culture Ministry convened a high-level review meeting to outline further steps. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has been requested to engage with its embassies in the UK and Hong Kong to block the auction.

The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has also been tasked with working with its Hong Kong counterpart to highlight the auction’s illegality under international norms.

The issue was raised diplomatically last week, when Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat met with UK Secretary of State for Culture, Media, and Sport, Rt Hon Lisa Nandy, urging immediate action to stop the sale and repatriate the relics.