Relics

Relics are defined as the bodily remains of buddhas, bodhisattvas, Buddhist saints, and other individuals who have achieved enlightenment, as well as objects that otherwise came into contact with such figures during their lifetimes. Relics are an important component of Buddhist practice, and have been an ongoing area of interest for Buddhologists over time as the study of the religion has developed. Evidence of the existence and worship of Buddhist relics dates as far back as evidence for the religion itself—a testament to relics’ importance within the tradition (Quinter 2014). Relics are commonly stored in stūpas, which serve as homes for the relics and places for worship or meditation.

Generally, relics are divided into two major categories. The first category is bodily remains, which are typically left behind after cremation. For example, following the final passing and cremation of the Buddha, his relics were collected and interred in a number of stūpas (Gethin 1998, pp. 26-27). In particular, one of the Buddha’s teeth was recovered. A number of temples claim to possess the tooth, most of which are in Asia, including the countries of Sri Lanka, China, Japan, and Singapore (Germano and Trainor 2004; Visit Singapore 2019). A number of relics of the Buddha exist in addition to the tooth relic described previously, including his finger bones, nails, and hair (Quinter 2014). The veneration of relics continues to the present day, with contemporary Buddhist figures providing new relics for worship. Wen-ji Qin’s 2001 documentary film To the Land of Bliss depicts a number of disciples combing through the cremation remains of their enlightened teacher in order to uncover relics. The second general category of relics is composed of objects which an enlightened figure came into contact with or was very closely associated with during his or her lifetime. These could be clothes, dishware, or other items of significance to the figure in question. Both categories of relics are significant and are commonly housed in stūpas.

Relics represent a specific subset of Buddhist artifacts. Also of significance to the Buddhist tradition are images, which can either be two-dimensional (e.g. drawn or painted) or three-dimensional (e.g. sculpted). In his discourse On the Allure of Buddhist Relics, Robert H. Sharf asserts that the distinction between Buddhist relics and images is dependent upon the origin of the artifact: whereas relics are discovered, having already existed, images and stūpas are created, or “manufactured,” by followers of the tradition. At times, relics are incorporated into images as they are being created in order to render the image more sacred. The relic can be attached to the back of the image or within its base, ground up and mixed with clay to form the bulk of the image, or—in extreme cases—the entire body can be mummified and then painted to serve simultaneously as a relic and an image (Sharf 1999). Relics and images also serve different purposes within the tradition, although determining a clear historical narrative or historiological distinction between the categories is complex.

The significance of relics has been a topic of interest, debate, and varying interpretation over the years. Much thought has been put towards elucidating the exact function of relics within the tradition, and the people studying their function have generally struggled with whether or not the incorporation of relics represents a form of idolatry—idolatry that is often classified as ‘primitive’ or in conflict with the more ‘advanced’ or ‘refined’ aspects of the tradition. In that vein, one interpretation is that relics are simply a “concession to the superstitious and devotional needs of the lay populace” (Strong 2004). A different (perhaps less practical and more doctrinal) interpretation is that relics function as the living remnants of the figure with whom they were associated, a sort of manifestation of his or her enduring impact through the dharma (Sharf 1999; Germano and Trainor 2004). Yet another way of thinking is that the relics represent the point in the figure’s life at which he or she was liberated from the cycle of samsara, after which the figure has reached ‘changelessness’ and is no longer bound to the physical world represented by the relics (Strong 2004). Although historians, archeologists, and other experts continue to study relics and their significance, it is highly unlikely that a conclusive explanation will ever be provided to accurately describe the role of relics throughout history and into the present day.

Given the extensive and enduring evidence of relics throughout Buddhist history, it is likely that the artifacts played a crucial role in the growth and spread of the tradition across time and space. Relics are portable and, in most cases, more numerous than the single figure whom they represent. For example, a single enlightened figure might have numerous relics associated with him or her. These qualities of mobility and abundance, along with the visceral response that they often invoke in humans, lent relics to serve an important role in the tradition’s spread—and this role arguably continues in the present day (Sharf 1999). Thus, throughout history, relics have been important to the people practicing the tradition, as well as to the religion itself.

References

Germano, David and Trainor, Kevin, editors. Embodying the Dharma: Buddhist Relic Veneration in Asia. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2004. [Provides an interpretation of the significance of Buddhist relics to the greater tradition.]

Gethin, Rupert. The Foundations of Buddhism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. [Describes the death of the Buddha and the immediate treatment of his relics following his death.]

Quinter, David. Oxford Biblipgraphies: Relics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014. [A background article on Buddhist relics, their history, and the history of their study. This source also provided information on exiting relics of Shakyamuni Buddha.]

Sharf, Robert H. On the Allure of Buddhist Relics. Representations, no. 66, 1999. [A discourse on the scholarly disagreement and controversy surrounding the worship of relics within the Buddhist tradition. Provides an overview of the changing schools of thought throughout history and relates the study of Buddhist relics to the study of relics in other religions.]

Strong, John S. Relics of the Buddha. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004. [Serves as a comprehensive source for Buddhist relics, including their categorization and archeological history]

Visit Singapore. Buddha Tooth Relic Temple & Museum. Singapore: Singapore Tourism Board, 2019. https://www.visitsingapore.com/see-do-singapore/culture-heritage/places-of-worship/buddha-tooth-relic-temple-museum/. [Provides a history of the Buddha Tooth Relic and its current resting place in Singapore, although this source is of course in contradiction with other sources who also claim to possess the Buddha tooth relic.]

External Links

For a video of a ceremony in which relics are discovered following the cremation of a revered Tibetan monk, click this link from the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT).

For a collection of images of Buddhist relics, stūpas, and related artifacts, click this link from the Huntington Archive.

For a news video detailing the discovery of many relics in Afghanistan, as well as the complicated geopolitical circumstances surrounding the excavation of the site, click this link from CGTN America.

Further Readings

Granoff, Phyllis. Relics, Rubies and Ritual: Some Comments on the Distinctiveness of the Buddhist Relic Cult. Rome: Rivista Degli Studi Orientali, vol. 81, no. 1/4, pp. 59–72, 2008. [A textual investigation into the context of relic worship’s incorporation into the Buddhist tradition, based on similar incorporations into other Indian traditions of the time.]

Quintman, Andrew. Life Writing as Literary Relic: Image, Inscription, and Consecration in Tibetan Biography. Abingdon: Routledge, 2015. [A discussion on how a particular type of inscription on the reverse side of Tibetan hanging scroll paintings renders the paintings a living manifestation of their subjects. This is an interesting counter to the classification of relics as being artifacts that are not created by human hands.]

Shen, Hsueh-Man. Realizing the Buddha’s ‘Dharma’ Body during the Mofa Period: A Study of Liao Buddhist Relic Deposits. Zurich: Artibus Asiae, vol. 61, no. 2, pp. 263–303, 2001. [An investigation into how significant archeological discoveries of Buddha relics have shaped Chinese Buddhism and the way that the dharma is spread, specifically during a period of time described as mofa.]

Walsham, Alexandra. Relics and Remains. Oxford: Oxford Journals, 2010. [A recent overview of the reverence for religious relics and human remains across history, geography, and cultures.]