Leh, Apr 30: Union Home Minister Amit Shah arrived in Ladakh on Thursday to attend the first-ever international exposition of holy relics of Lord Buddha in India, officials said.
Shah was received by Ladakh Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena and accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Kushok Bakula Rimpochee Airport here. Senior officials of the police and civil administration were also present.
During his two-day visit, Shah will pay respect to the sacred relics of Lord Buddha on the Buddha Purnima, which falls on Friday.
He will also lay foundation stone for a 10 TLPD (thousand litres per day) capacity dairy plant in Kargil and attend other dairy-related programmes.
In an X post on Wednesday, Shah said it was a moment of profound good fortune for him.
“It is a moment of profound good fortune for me to be attending on the occasion of Buddha Purnima, the first ever international exposition of the holy relics of Lord Buddha, commencing on the 1st of May,” he said.
“In this exposition, devotees from different parts of the world will offer veneration to the relics of Lord Buddha,” he added.
The sacred Piprahwa relics of Buddha were brought to Leh in a special Indian Air Force aircraft on Wednesday by Drukpa Thuksey Rinpoche and Khenpo Thinlas Chosal of Matho Monastery.
The sacred relics were accorded a ceremonial reception on arrival, with people pouring out of their homes and gathering along the roads to pay respect.
The exposition to be held in the first two weeks of May marks the beginning of a rare and significant spiritual occasion in the Union Territory of Ladakh.
Piprahwa relics refer to the ancient remains and associated objects linked to Gautama Buddha, discovered at Piprahwa, an archaeological site in the present-day Uttar Pradesh, near the Nepal border.
The relics have gained renewed global significance in recent years, especially after a collection of associated gems and offerings was repatriated to India in July 2025 from a British family and a private collection, ending over a century of colonial possession.
The relics have been exhibited internationally in several countries; this is the first time they have been brought out from their original place of preservation for exposition within India.
The Piprahwa relics have previously been exhibited in countries such as Thailand, Mongolia, Vietnam, Russia, Singapore, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Myanmar, attracting global attention and devotion, according to an official statement.
In Ladakh, the relics will be open for public veneration at Jivetsal from May 2 to 10. They will subsequently be taken to Zanskar on May 11 and 12, followed by exposition at the Dharma Centre in Leh from May 13 to 14, before being returned to Delhi on May 15, it read.
