The Thai team brought at least thirteen relics, comprising teeth and bones of Lord Buddha from places like Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Japan and South Korea.

High monks inform that the relics of the Buddha are expected to give much needed significance to the Sakyamuni project which aims to add Rabong to the Buddhist and religious circuit and draw pilgrim tourists.

The work on the 130 feet Buddha statue project started in 2006, the year which marks the 2550th birth anniversary of Lord Gautama Buddha. The State government in a policy decision had decided to observe the birth anniversary throughout the year in Sikkim and as part of the celebrations; an initiative was being taken by the people of Rabong to construct and install a large statue of Lord Buddha and eco-garden to commemorate the event.

It may be mentioned here that a few years back, the Director of Namgyal Institute of Tibetelogy Tashi Densapa and former member of Mahabodhi Temple Committee N Dorji had visited the centre of the 19th Supreme Patriarch in Thailand to initiate talks about the need to install relics inside the Buddha project.

Slated to be a landmark in Sikkim’s unique effort in uniting tourism and religion, the project has Chief Minister Pawan Chamling as its chief patron. The construction is being carried out under the aegis of area MLA and State Urban Development minister D. D. Bhutia who is the patron of the Sakyamuni project.

History has it that after the Buddha’s body was cremated at Kusinagar, the fragments that remained were divided into eight portions. These were then sent to various kingdoms to be enshrined in Stupas as per Buddhist convention.

The relics have turned into sacred substances and look like tiny pearl like globules with different colours for various parts of the body.