Monks offer prayers to sacred Buddha relics being taken to Russia

NEW DELHI: National Museum Director General Gurmeet Singh Chawla and a high-level delegation of 11 senior Indian monks on Saturday offered prayers to the sacred Relics of Gautam Buddha, before departing for Russia’s Kalmykia Republic for an exposition.

The exposition will be held in the capital city of Elista from October 11 to 18. The Ministry of Culture is organising the exposition with the International Buddhist Confederation, the National Museum, and the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts.

The Sacred Relics will be enshrined in the main Buddhist monastery in Elista, known as the Geden Sheddup Choikorling Monastery, also called the ‘Golden Abode of Shakyamuni Buddha.’ The sacred relics of Lord Buddha, preserved in the National Museum here, will be transported to Russia’s Republic of Kalmykia for an exposition.

With Chanting and prayers carried out by monks organised by #IBC and with DG @NMnewdelhi in the lead, Buddha’s Holy #Piprahwa Relics on their way with great reverence escorted with full religious sanctity and protocol to #Kalmykia. pic.twitter.com/kVMHOJZLHq

— International Buddhist Confederation (IBC) (@IbcWorldOrg) October 10, 2025

A high-level delegation of eleven senior Indian monks will also offer blessings to the local devotees and conduct religious services for the region’s predominantly Buddhist population, according to a release.

The Holy Relics exposition, a first in the Russian Republic, is organised by the Union Ministry of Culture in collaboration with the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC), the National Museum, and the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA). It will be held in the capital city of Elista from October 11-18.

The Holy Relics will be received by the Head of the Buddhists of Kalmykia, Shajin Lama of Kalmykia, Geshe Tenzin Choidak, Batu Sergeyevich Khasikov, Head of the Republic of Kalmykia and other eminent Buddhist Sangha members, the release said.

The Sacred Relics will be enshrined in the main Buddhist monastery in Elista, known as the Geden Shedrup Choikorling Monastery, also referred to as the “Golden Abode of Shakyamuni Buddha”. This is a significant Tibetan Buddhist centre, opened for the public in 1996 and is surrounded by the Kalmyk steppe.

It may be recalled that it was the 19th Kushok Bakula Rinpoche, the revered Buddhist monk and diplomat from Ladakh, who played a pivotal role in reviving Buddhism in Mongolia and, subsequently, was also instrumental in reintroducing interest in Buddha dharma in the three regions of Russia, namely Buryatia, Kalmykia, and Tuva.

The delegation, led by the Deputy Chief Minister of UP, Keshav Prasad Maurya, will host additional activities during the week. These include teachings and discourses by His Holiness the 43rd Sakya Trizin Rinpoche, Head of the Sakya Order; the presentation of the Holy ‘Kanjur’, a Set of 108 Mongolian religious texts originally translated from the Tibetan language. IBC will present the Kanjur to nine Buddhist Institutes and a University. These are from the Manuscripts division of the Ministry of Culture. (ANI)