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The Sotheby’s auction house has postponed its sale in Hong Kong of hundreds of holy jewels related to the remains of the Buddha, after a threat of legal action by the Indian government.
The sale of the collection – described as one of the most amazing archaeological finds of the modern era – had received criticism from Buddhist academics and monastic leaders. India had said it insulted the global Buddhist community.
Sotheby’s said that the suspension would allow discussions between the parties.
A British officer named William Kaxton Peppé dug up the relics in Noord -India almost 130 years ago, identified in addition to bone fragments as belonging to the Buddha itself.
The auction of the auction of the collection, known as the Piprahwa-Edelstenen of the historic Buddha Maurryan Empire, Ashokan Era, around 240-200 BC.
In a letter to the auction house two days earlier, the Indian government said that the remains “inalienable religious and cultural heritage of India and the global Buddhist community were. Their sales scores Indian and international laws, as well as conventions of the United Nations”.
An Indian government delegation at a high level subsequently conducted discussions with Sotheby’s representatives on Tuesday.
In an e -mail statement, Sotheby’s said that in the light of the affairs that are the Indian government of India “and with the agreement of the senders, the auction … has been postponed”.
It said that updates would be shared about the discussions “if applicable”.
Notification of the sale sale of precious stones was removed from the auction house on Wednesday and the website page that promotes the auction is no longer available.
William Kaxton Peppé was an English estate manager who is a stupa babysitter in Piprahwa, just south of Lumbini, the religious birthplace of Buddha. He discovered remains registered and inaugurated almost 2000 years ago.
The findings include almost 1,800 precious stones, including rubies, topaz, sapphires and gold plates with a pattern stored in a brick room. This site is now in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
Sotheby’s had said in February that the discovery of 1898 “achieved one of the most extraordinary archaeological discoveries of all time”.
