Following the Indian government’s threat of legal action, the auction house Sotheby’s has postponed its sale of hundreds of precious jewels connected to the Buddha’s remains in Hong Kong.
Buddhist scholars and monastic authorities had criticized the sale of the collection, which was hailed as one of the most astounding archeological discoveries of the contemporary age. India claimed that the international Buddhist community was outraged.
According to Sotheby’s, the suspension would give the parties time to talk.
Nearly 130 years ago, the bones and bone fragments that were identified as belonging to the Buddha himself were discovered in northern India by a British diplomat named William Claxton Peppé.
