A monk carries the relics of Lord Buddha to the Tri-Ratna monastery in Siliguri on Tuesday. Picture by Kundan Yolmo

Siliguri, Nov. 10: A Muslim teacher with her Christian students along with hundreds of Buddhists thronged a Salbari monastery today to witness the arrival of the sacred relics of Buddha and his two main disciples Sariputra and Maha Mogallana.

The relics, which are more than 2,500 years old, were received at the Tri-Ratna Buddhist Monastery, 7km from here, from Darjeeling amid the chanting of hymns, showering of marigold petals and the scent of incense sticks around noon.

People from as far as Sikkim, Kalchini and Kurseong gathered to have a glimpse of the relics. “We have come all the way from Gangtok to pay our homage to the holy items. These items are so sacred that by worshipping them we feel like coming nearer to God,” said Sharap Lhama, 65. She was accompanied by her three friends.

Salbari wore a colourful look today. Schoolchildren attired in traditional Nepali, Tibetan and Adivasi dresses lined up on the roadside and danced as the sacred items under the shade of gorgeous umbrellas were carried by monks inside the monastery.

Laden Lama Khan, a teacher of Ila Pal Chowdhury Memorial Hindi High School in Sukna, was present. “The relics have been brought here for world peace. They are not meant for Budhhists only,” said the teacher in her thirties. “I have brought my students many of whom are Christians and they performed the Adivasi dance.”

This is the first time that the relics have been brought out of the Jaya Shri Mahabodhi Vihara in Bodh Gaya after their enshrinement in 2007.

The relics were on display for devotees to pay homage at the Gorkha Rangamancha Bhawan in Darjeeling from November 7 to 9. They will remain at the Salbari monastery from tomorrow to November 13.

“It’s a good opportunity for all of us who cannot go to Bodh Gaya to pay homage to the sacred relics,” said Kishore Chachan, 70, a resident of Siliguri. Krishna Pradhan, a Hindu, also echoed him. “I feel privileged to have see the relics,” he said.

The relics carried in three caskets, made of gold and glass and studded with precious stones, comprise the collar bone of Buddha and other bone remnants of his two disciples.

The relics of Sariputra and Maha Mogallana were excavated by British archaeologist Alexander Cunningham in 1851 from the Third Stupa at the Asokan Buddhist complex in Madhya Pradesh’s Sanchi. They were kept at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London for nearly 90 years before they were returned to India in 1949. Since then, the relics had been kept at the Mahabodhi Society of India headquarters in Calcutta till 2007, monastery sources said.

The relics of Buddha, were, however, excavated by the archaeological department of Sri Lanka in 1930 from the Mahianganga Stupa in the country. It was kept at the Mullegama Temple at Kandy in Sri Lanka and handed over to the Mahabodhi Society of India later, the sources added.

“It’s amazing to see so many people of different faiths gathered here to worship the sacred relics,” said D. Rewatha Thera, the general-secretary of the Mahabodhi Society of India.

“Four of us have escorted the relics from Bodh Gaya to Darjeeling. We will be taking them back there on Friday,” Thera added.