India, Oct. 4 -- A hundred and forty-four years after they were excavated from the remains of an ancient Buddhist stupa at Mumbai's Nalasopara, a remarkable collection of relics preserved in the archives of the Asiatic Society of Bombay will be shown to the public for the first time next year. The collection, which has remained largely inaccessible since its discovery in 1882, includes a reliquary containing multiple nested caskets, gold flowers, Buddhist artefacts, coins and a group of bronze figures.

"The exhibition of the Sopara Relics is the centrepiece of our wider effort to bring the Society's historic collections closer to the public," said Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, newly elected president of the Asiatic Society of Bombay. "It is likel...