Sariputta + Mahamoggallana Relics Return Saga (V&A London → Sanchi 1952).
Tourists climb to Stupa 1 for the famous toranas and never realise that Stupa 3 just down the slope holds the physical relics of the Buddha's two foremost disciples — and that those relics travelled from Sanchi to London to Colombo and back over a 100-year campaign.WHY NOBODY KNOWS
In the 1850s, General Alexander Cunningham excavated Stupa 3 and found two sandstone reliquaries inscribed "Sariputta" and "Maha Moggallana" — the foremost disciples of the Buddha (Sariputta was renowned for wisdom, Mahamoggallana for psychic power). The relics were taken to England and held at the V&A Museum until the Maha Bodhi Society launched a decades-long campaign for return. The relics travelled to Sri Lanka in 1947, toured Asia 1949-52, and were finally re-enshrined at Sanchi on 30 November 1952 in the new Chethiyagiri Vihara built specifically for them by the Maha Bodhi Society. Sri Lanka's Prime Minister D.S. Senanayake and India's C. Rajagopalachari were present. The relics are publicly displayed only one day a year (last Sunday of November); other days the casket sits sealed.
