Sacred Relics from Devnimori Open for Public Veneration

COLOMBO (News1st): Following their arrival in Sri Lanka, the Sacred Sarvagna Relics from the Devnimori archaeological site in Gujarat, India, are now open for public veneration at the Hunupitiya Gangarama Temple in Colombo starting today. 

The Relics were formally received at the Bandaranayake International Airport in Katunayake yesterday and subsequently escorted to the Gangarama Temple. 

Following their arrival, the exposition was inaugurated yesterday evening under the patronage of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

The sacred relics are open for veneration for devotees until 7:00 AM, 11th of February. 

Deputy Minister of Buddhasasana, Gamagedara Dissanayake, stated that the exposition will remain open 24 hours a day.

The Sacred Relics of Lord Buddha were discovered during excavations led by Professor S.N. Chowdhary between 1957 and 1963 at the Devnimori archaeological site in the Aravalli district of Gujarat, India.

The Relics were found inside a casket positioned at a height of 24 feet within the Devnimori Stupa.

The casket bears an inscription in Brahmi script and Sanskrit reading "Dashabala Sharira Nilaya", which translates to "the place where the physical body relics of the Buddha are enshrined."

Inside the main casket, archaeologists found silk cloth, beads, and a small copper casket containing the sacred relics. 

Housed at a university in Vadodara, this marks the first time the Sacred Relics have been taken outside India for exposition.