The jewels are delicate, some just millimeters in length, arranged in intricate patterns of circles and lines. Taken from British-occupied India in 1898, they were discovered alongside bone and ash said to be the remains of Buddha.

       On Wednesday, the artifacts were meant to be sold at a Sotheby’s auction in Hong Kong on behalf of the English descendants of the man who dug them up more than 120 years ago. But after India’s Culture Ministry issued a legal order saying that the relics should be returned for “preservation and religious veneration,” Sotheby’s said in a statement that the auction had been postponed.

       “This will allow for discussions between the parties,” Sotheby’s said in the statement on Wednesday.

       The collection is perhaps one of the holiest relics in contemporary religion, and the planned auction cut to the heart of an uncomfortable question that has roiled post-colonial nations: How should priceless relics plundered generations ago from once-occupied territories be handled?

       Advertisement

       SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

       “We’re in this movement that’s long overdue, to rethink the status of culturally significant artwork,” said Ashley Thompson, a professor of Southeast Asian art at the University of London. “Who do they belong to? What are they worth? Can they even be considered as commodities?”

       A host of countries have wrestled with such questions in recent years. Some American institutions have slowly begun returning relics to Indigenous tribes. Dutch museums have returned colonial-era artifacts to countries like Nigeria and Sri Lanka. Across Britain, museums have gradually been repatriating looted artifacts, including some related to Buddhist burial traditions.

       Subscribe to The Times to read as many articles as you like.