{"id":106011,"date":"2026-06-25T10:52:28","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T09:52:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vam.ac.uk\/blog\/?p=106011"},"modified":"2026-06-25T10:52:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T09:52:29","slug":"watch-prof-naman-ahujas-lecture-artefacts-or-relics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vam.ac.uk\/blog\/museum-life\/watch-prof-naman-ahujas-lecture-artefacts-or-relics","title":{"rendered":"Watch: Prof. Naman Ahuja&#8217;s lecture, &#8216;Artefacts or Relics?&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"responsive-embed\">\n    <iframe class=\"optanon-category-C0004\"  width=\"560\" height=\"315\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/YkaPZJCshVk?si=IvukZlPyTLHD25xK\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n    <div class=\"iframe-sizing\" style=\"padding-bottom: 56.2%;\"><\/div>\n    <div class=\"cookies-placeholder hide\">\n    We use third-party platforms (including Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube) to share some content on this website. These set third-party cookies, for which we need your consent. If you are happy with this, please change your cookie consent for Targeting cookies.\n    <\/br>\n    <\/br>\n    <!-- OneTrust Cookies Settings button start -->\n    <button id=\"ot-sdk-btn\" class=\"ot-sdk-show-settings\">Cookie Settings<\/button>\n    <!-- OneTrust Cookies Settings button end -->\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>In November 2025, V&amp;A South Kensington was pleased to welcome Professor Naman Ahuja, Professor of art history at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, to deliver <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vam.ac.uk\/event\/kd24yPq4dr\/lunchtime-lecture-professor-naman-ahuja-nov-2025?srsltid=AfmBOorL6QpwDHLCRTsOxE0wOiDagokbGbpNE0IgGaPUoy1JCmgT2tif\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.vam.ac.uk\/event\/kd24yPq4dr\/lunchtime-lecture-professor-naman-ahuja-nov-2025?srsltid=AfmBOorL6QpwDHLCRTsOxE0wOiDagokbGbpNE0IgGaPUoy1JCmgT2tif\">a public lunchtime lecture<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Professor Ahuja\u2019s talk, titled\u00a0<em>Artefacts or Relics?<\/em>, examined a collection of gems taken from the Piprahwa stupa in Northern India along with remains said to be those of the Buddha himself. Excavated in 1898 by the engineer William Caxton Pepp\u00e9 during the British Raj, the gems were the subject of an attempted auction earlier in 2025, which was subsequently stopped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In his lecture, Professor Ahuja explored the status of the Piprahwa gems as holy relics, inseparable from the sacred bodily remains of the Buddha, and examined how attitudes, understandings and ethical debates around the treatment of such material have changed since their discovery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In November 2025, V&amp;A South Kensington was pleased to welcome Professor Naman Ahuja, Professor of art history at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, to South Kensington to deliver a public lunchtime lecture. 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