An ancient Buddha statue is displayed in a museum in Kabul on June 28, 2013. (File photo)
With suggestions that a bowl used by Gautam Buddha is in Afghanistan, India is sending a team of officials from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) there by the month-end to assess its authenticity before it could be brought back.
The huge greenish-grey granite bowl weighs 400 kg and has a diameter of about 1.75 metres, height of almost four metres and thickness of 18 cm at its rim.
The vessel is currently displayed at the National Museum of Afghanistan.
A team of ASI officials is being sent there to study the bowl, ASI Additional Director General B R Mani told PTI.
Asked about the number of officials in the team, Mani said, "It could be two or more."
He went on to add that the team will be selected and sent with the approval of the Culture Ministry and External Affairs Ministry.
RJD MP Raghuvansh Prasad Singh has been saying that the bowl belongs to Buddha and has been demanding that it be brought back for installing at its original place at Vaishali, a Buddhist pilgrimage site in Bihar.
According to ASI, Buddha donated the bowl to the people of Vaishali. Later on, it was taken to Peshawar and then to Kandahar and finally to Kabul.