page_title: Relics of Sariputta and Moggallana
section_title: Display in Britain
hierarchical_section_title: Relics of Sariputta and Moggallana / Display in Britain
caption_attribution_description: South Kensington Museum: the interior of the architectural court, with exhibits and visitors. Wood engraving by J. Walmsley, 1873. Iconographic Collections Keywords: John Walmsley; Victoria &amp; Albert Museum (London)
context_page_description: The relics of Sariputta and Moggallana refers to the cremated remains of the Buddhist disciples Sariputta and Moggallana. Sariputta and Moggallana were the two chief disciples of the Buddha, often stylized as the right hand and left hand disciples of the Buddha respectively. The two disciples were childhood friends who ordained under the Buddha together and are said to have become enlightened as arahants. The Buddha declared them his two chief disciples, after which they assumed leadership roles in the Buddha's ministry. Both of the chief disciples died a few months before the Buddha near the ancient Indian city of Rājagaha and were cremated. According to Buddhist texts, the cremated remains of the disciples were then enshrined in stupas at notable monasteries of the time, with Sariputta's remains being enshrined at Jetavana monastery and Moggallana's remains being enshrined at Veḷuvana monastery. However, as of 1999 no modern archaeological reports had confirmed this, although in 1851 discoveries were made at other sites.
context_section_description: Cunningham and Maisey later divided their findings among each other, with Maisey bringing the Satdhāra relics to Britain and loaning them to the Victoria and Albert Museum (then called the South Kensington Museum) in London in 1866 along with several other artifacts from Asia. The relics were eventually purchased by the Museum in 1921 from Maisley's son, whose ownership devolved. Cunningham brought his findings to Britain on two ships, one of which sank, thus the Sanchi relics are assumed to have been lost. Historian Torkel Brekke, however, argues that Maisey took all the relics with him, and thus the Sanchi relics went to Britain along with the Satdhāra ones. Archeologist Louis Finot notes that Cunningham had no interest in the relics, only in the caskets.
  In the late 19th century, a Buddhist revival movement led by the Maha Bodhi Society began taking place in South Asia. The revival efforts led several Buddhist organizations to begin pressuring the British government starting in the 1920s to return the relics of the chief disciples to India, where they can be properly venerated. The Victoria and Albert Museum rejected the initial requests, which at first came as a series of letters from local English Buddhists. On one occasion, the museum instead offered to allow a small group of local Buddhists to worship the relics at the museum, in response to a request that the relics temporarily be sent to a local Buddhist center for a worship. The museum argued that it also held Christian relics, and that returning the Buddhist relics would result in many museums being forced to return other relics as well.
  The situation changed in 1939 however, when the museum was informed that the government of India had forwarded a request for the return of the relics on behalf of Buddhist organizations. While museum director Eric Maclagan still argued that doing so would result in being forced to also return their Christian relics, one museum official argued that Britain being a Christian country gives them rights to those relics that they don't have with Buddhist relics. The museum was eventually instructed by the British government to return the relics for diplomatic reasons later that year. However, the transfer was delayed due to the outbreak of World War II, due to fear of the relics being lost in wartime transport. After the war ended, the transfer was officially made in 1947 with the relics first being transported to predominantly Buddhist Sri Lanka in accordance with an agreement made with Buddhist organizations.
caption: Depiction of the Victoria & Albert Museum in 1873, then called the South Kensington Museum
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