Prime Minister Calls Upon Citizens to Witness Piprahwa Relics at Rai Pithora Cultural Complex

• Piprahwa Relics = gem relics, reliquaries and bone fragments associated with Bhagwan Buddha, originally enshrined c. 3rd century BCE and excavated in 1898 at Piprahwa village, Siddharthnagar district, Uttar Pradesh.
• Repatriated to India in July 2025 after 127 years abroad and put on public display via a Grand International Exposition titled "The Light & the Lotus: Relics of the Awakened One" at Rai Pithora Cultural Complex, New Delhi, inaugurated by PM Modi on 3 Jan 2026.
• Relevant for UPSC under Art & Culture (Buddhism, ASI antiquities), International Relations (cultural repatriation), and Polity/Governance (Antiquities & Art Treasures Act, 1972).