Ladakh as a Sacred Stage: Why the Buddha’s Relics Came to the Roof of the World
When the government of India decided to hold the first-ever exposition of the holy relics of the Tathagata outside their place of preservation, it had many options. The relics could have toured major cities. They could have been displayed in the grand facilities of the National Museum. They could have gone to Bodh Gaya, the most obvious site of Buddhist pilgrimage, or to Sarnath, where the Buddha gave his first sermon.
Instead, they went to Ladakh. The choice was not arbitrary. It carried meaning on multiple levels, and understanding that meaning requires understanding what Ladakh is, not as an administrative unit, but as a living Buddhist landscape with a history that stretches back more than a thousand years.
The exposition was titled 'The Sacred Exposition of the Holy Relics of th...
