Pakistan

Buddha’s relics return to Pakistan

Relics had been sent to Sri Lanka special request mark their Annual Buddha Rashmi National Vesak Festival

APP May 18, 2018

Statues are seen after being discovered and unveiled to the public, during a ceremony at the Buddhist-period archeological site near Haripur, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province, Pakistan, November 15, 2017. REUTERS/Saad Sayeed

ISLAMABAD: Sacred relics of Lord Buddha from Taxila returned to Pakistan on Thursday after their three-week-long exposition at various locations in Sri Lanka concluded.

Minister of Sustainable Development, Wildlife and Regional Development, Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, senior government officials and diplomats from the Pakistan High Commission saw the safe departure of the relics at the Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo.

The sanctified relics had been sent to Sri Lanka by the Pakistan government following a special request from Sri Lanka to mark their Annual Buddha Rashmi National Vesak Festival.

During the exposition in Sri Lanka, millions of devotees paid their respects and homage to these sacred relics.

The exposition of the relics commenced on April 29 by Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickramasinghe, amidst a large gathering at Temple Trees.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 18^th, 2018.