Sacred Kapilavastu Relics Exposition all 24 hours

Priyanka KURUGALA

The Sacred Kapilavastu Relics will be on exposition for public veneration 24 hours a day for devotees who will be coming from all corners of the country, Presidential Co-ordinator on Religious Affairs Ven Getamanne Gunananda said.

The Thera said the people of the country should thank Pressident Mahinda Rajapaksa for his intervention to bring the Sacred Relics from India.

Further the Ven Thera requested devotees not to bring cameras and any other parcels or objects when coming to worship Sacred Kapilavastu Relics.

The Sacred Kapilavastu Relics will be exposed at the Manelwaththa Temple until August 22 at 6.00 am. Thereafter, the relics will be brought to the Pellmadulla Rajamaha Viharaya. The Sacred Relics will be on exposition there on August 22 and 23, the Thera said.

An Exposition of the Sacred Buddha Relics will be held at five locations from August 19 to September 5 with Prith Chanting by the Maha Sangha.

Director Postgraduate Institute of Pali and Buddhist University Prof. Sumanapala Galmangoda told the Daily News that many countries in the world possess the Sacred Relics of The Buddha.

However, the Relics from Kapilavasthu could be considered as the real Sacred Relics of The Buddha.

These Relics were excavated by Alexander Cunningham, the first director of the Archaeological Survey of India, in the late 19th

century from ruins in Piprahwa, in present day Bihar; Piprahwa was known as Kapilavastu in ancient Indian history.

Historical chronicles record that, after the Buddha’s “Parinibbana” (Passing Away), the holy Relics taken from the cremation site were divided into eight portions, and handed over to separate groups for preservation.

These came to be known as the Kapilavastu Relics. According to the Mahaparinibbana Sutta penned in the fifth century BC, a part of the Buddha’s Relics was handed to the Sakyas of Kapilavastu. These came to be known as the Kapilavastu Relics.

The Exposition of Sacred Kapilavastu Buddha Relics is held in Sri Lanka for the second time. The first was held in 1978, 34 years ago.