A strong demand for bringing back the begging bowl of Lord Buddha from an Afghan museum and installing it at its “original” place at Vaishali in Bihar was made by RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh in Lok Sabha on Monday.
Raising the issue during Zero Hour, he said the Buddha, who was on his way to attain ‘nirvana’ (salvation), had presented the ‘bhikshapatra’ (begging bowl) to the people of Vaishali.
The bowl was later taken away to the capital of Kanishka, ‘Purushputra’ (now Peshawar), by invaders and then further to Kandahar (then Gandhar), Mr. Singh, who represents Vaishali constituency, said, adding several noted historians have written about the historicity of the vase.
As din prevailed in the House, Speaker Meira Kumar told the members, “He (Singh) is raising an issue concerning Lord Buddha. Please maintain peace in the House.”
Mr. Singh said he had referred the matter to former External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and learnt that the vase was now kept in Kabul museum.
He urged the External Affairs Ministry and the Archaeological Survey of India to take steps to bring it back to India and install it at its “original place in Vaishali.”
Anto Antony (Cong) wanted establishment of a national monument in memory of the martyrs of the First War of Indian Independence in 1857.
He lamented that it was tragic that the country did not have a memorial to remember those who had made supreme sacrifices for the nation and spread the message of national unity 155 years ago.
