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Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera
Lifestyle
Al Jazeera Staff

What are the Piprahwa gems, and why is India trying to stop their auction?

Buddha Sotheby India Ministry of Culture New Delhi
People walk with candles around a Buddha statue on Asalha Puja Day, which commemorates the Buddha's first sermon, at a temple in Nakhon Pathom province on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand [File: Chalinee Thirasupa/Reuters]

The Indian government has condemned an auction of ancient Indian gems and issued a legal notice to stop the “unethical” sale of the relics, which it said should be treated as the sacred body of the Buddha.

New Delhi’s Ministry of Culture said the auction of the Piprahwa gems in Hong Kong, scheduled for Wednesday, “violates Indian and international laws as well as United Nations conventions” and demanded their repatriation to India “for preservation and religious veneration”.

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