Repatriation of the Piprahwa Relics represents an act of shared stewardship rather than ownership

• Piprahwa Relics = sacred bone fragments and associated reliquaries believed to be the mortal remains of Gautama Buddha, originally excavated in 1898 at the Piprahwa stupa, Siddharthnagar district, Uttar Pradesh (identified with ancient Kapilavastu).
• A portion held by the Peppé family (descendants of the British excavator) was repatriated to India in 2025 after the Ministry of Culture intervened to halt a Sotheby's Hong Kong auction; framed officially as "shared stewardship rather than ownership".
• Relevance: cultural diplomacy, antiquities-repatriation policy, Buddhist soft power, India's heritage governance under the Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, 1972.