The Pali canon says eight peoples demanded the Buddha's ashes; one share, found in 1898, was pulled from auction in 2025

The Mahaparinibbana Sutta says that after the Buddha was cremated at Kusinara, seven claimants sent word to the Mallas of Kusinara asking for a share of the remains: King Ajatasattu of Magadha, the Licchavis, the Sakyas of Kapilavatthu, the Bulis, the Kolis, a Brahmin of Vethadipa and the Mallas of Pava. The Mallas refused, because he had died in their town. The Brahmin Dona told the assembly that strife over the relics would be wrong and proposed eight equal shares. He divided them and kept the urn. The Moriyas arrived late and received the embers. Ten stupas were built. In 1898 William Claxton Peppé dug into a stupa at Piprahwa on his estate. He found caskets with bone fragments and about 1,800 gems and jewels. An inscription calls it the relic-shrine of the Buddha of the Sakya brothers. The bones went to King Rama V of Siam in 1899, most jewels to the Indian Museum in Kolkata, and Peppé kept "duplicate items." In May 2025 Sotheby's offered gems still held by the Peppé family. India's culture ministry demanded the sale be cancelled and the relics returned. The auction was postponed. On 30 July 2025 the ministry said it had secured their return with the Godrej Industries Group and would display them.