A set of jewels linked to the Buddha are going up for auction in Hong Kong.
The gems were part of a hoard unearthed in 1898 in Uttar Pradesh, India, near the Buddha’s birthplace.
Alongside them were fragments of bone and an urn with an inscription claiming that they had belonged to the Buddha, Siddartha Gautama — a find that remains “among the most extraordinary archaeological discoveries of all time,” Sotheby’s Asia chairman told the BBC.
The seller’s decision to auction them off has been met with some criticism and unease from art historians.
As one Delhi-based expert mused: “Are the relics of the Buddha a commodity that can be treated like a work of art to be sold on the market?”