Buddha relic from Thailand to be enshrined tomorrow

Hyderabad: A Buddha relic brought back from Thailand after several hundred years will be enshrined at a stupa built in the forecourt of the Vihara at Mahendra Hills on Sunday.

As part of a ceremony to welcome the relic, it was kept at the Buddha statue on Tank bund on Friday. Once the holy relic is enshrined in the stupa, it will become a Maha stupa.

There are three types of stupas, namely Sariraka, Paribhogika and Uddesika. Sariraka stupas contain corporeal relics of the Buddha or eminent Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis. Paribhogika stupas retain the objects used by them and Uddesika stupas are votive stupas that the devout install as an act of piety or in fulfilment of a vow. 

“The stupa is a replica of the great Amaravati Stupa in Andhra Pradesh,” senior monk (Ven) Bhikkhu Ananda said.