The Buddha smiles. Not as the codename for India’s nuclear tests this time, but in stone, bang in the middle of the controversial Central Vista in Delhi. The
Buddha sits in meditative silence in an upcoming museum dedicated to him. The newest addition to Delhi’s already crammed historic landscape, the museum is part of the Narendra Modi government’s ambitious soft power project of invoking India’s first God to cross the seas—courtesy emperor Ashoka—to cement deeper ties with countries sharing the same spiritual heritage.
Buddhism has been India’s most powerful export. It has also been a key element of Modi’s ‘Act East’ policy. The Buddha has been at the heart of diplomacy since the time of Ashoka, who tried to spread Buddhist principles to the neighbouring countries. Several centuries later, one of independent India’s first diplomatic battles was over the Buddha relics.
The relics from Sanchi, which were taken out in the 19th century by British archaeologists, were kept at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. It became an emotive issue for the Maha Bodhi Society, which wanted the relics to be returned to a new vihara opened in Sarnath in 1932.
The request was granted seven years later, but the return was delayed because of World War II. After India’s independence, the new government under Jawaharlal Nehru insisted on the return of the relics in their original casket and finally got them back. At a grand ceremony held in Calcutta on January 14, 1949, Nehru handed over the casket to Syama Prasad Mookerjee, the president of the society.
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