New Delhi: The sacred relics of Lord Buddha, housed at the National Museum in New Delhi, will be taken to Russia’s Kalmykia Republic for their first-ever exposition, accompanied by a high-level delegation of senior Indian and international monks.

The event, organised by the Ministry of Culture in collaboration with the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC), the National Museum, and the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), will coincide with the 3rd International Buddhist Forum in Elista, the capital of Kalmykia, from September 24 to 28, 2025.

The forum, themed “Buddhism in the New Millennium,” will feature the enshrinement of Shakyamuni Buddha’s sacred relics at the Geden Sheddup Choikorling Monastery, also known as the “Golden Abode of Shakyamuni Buddha,” the main Tibetan Buddhist centre in Kalmykia. This religious site was opened to the public in 1996 and is located amid the vast Kalmyk steppe.

A high-level delegation led by Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya will escort the relics, which will be transported with full religious sanctity on a special Indian Air Force aircraft. The IBC delegation will include prominent figures such as H.H. the 43rd Sakya Trizin Rinpoche, H.E. the 13th Kundeling Taktsak Rinpoche, H.E. the 7th Yongzin Ling Rinpoche, alongside 17 other senior monks. Senior Indian monks will conduct special blessing sessions for local devotees during the forum.

The event will also showcase four exhibitions organised by the IBC and the National Museum, highlighting the “Four Great Events in the Life of the Buddha” and the sacred legacy of the Shakya clan. One exhibition will focus on artefacts excavated from Piprahwa, the ancient Kapilavastu—historically the Shakya capital—where important relics were discovered. Another exhibition by the National Museum, titled “The Art of Stillness – Buddhist Art from its National Collection,” will display Buddhist sculptures and artworks, including pieces by Padma Shri awardee artist Shri Vasudev Kamath.

In addition to the exhibitions, the forum will feature three special academic lectures and a demonstration of an artificial intelligence chatbot named “Norbu – the Kalyana Mitta,” designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of Buddha Dhamma in Russian.

Two Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) are set to be signed during the event—between the Central Spiritual Administration of Buddhist Russia and the International Buddhist Confederation, and another with Nalanda University.

The forum aims to foster spiritual dialogue and cultural unity, particularly significant as Kalmykia is the only Buddhist republic in Europe. The Kalmyks are descendants of the Oirat Mongols, who migrated from Western Mongolia in the 17th century, and are the sole European ethnic group practising Mahayana Buddhism.

In recent years, sacred Buddha relics from the National Museum have been exhibited internationally: to Mongolia in 2022, Thailand in 2024, and Vietnam earlier this year. The relics to be sent to Kalmykia belong to the same revered collection, preserved in the museum’s Buddhist Gallery.

The initiative follows India’s recent repatriation of the sacred Piprahwa relics—considered among the most spiritually and archaeologically important discoveries related to Lord Buddha. Prime Minister Narendra Modi celebrated the return of these relics in July, highlighting India’s enduring cultural and spiritual connection to Buddha’s legacy.

Discovered during excavations at Piprahwa, near Birdpur in Uttar Pradesh’s Basti district, the relics date back to the 4th or 5th century BCE and are linked to the Shakya clan. Their return and international exhibitions underscore India’s commitment to preserving and promoting Buddhist heritage worldwide.