<< Objects which are claimed to be relics of the Lord Buddha are now for sale on e-bay, a popular auction website. A group of devout Buddhists sees this as a sign that Buddhism has been degraded. — PHRAKRIT JUNTAWONG

Such bids worry the School for Life Foundation, a small group of devout Buddhists who lobby the Sangha Council and the Supreme Patriarch to ensure the relics are treated with respect.

They believe the relics should be kept secure and that a chedi, or pagoda, is the proper place for this.

''But what is enraging is that the relics of the founder of Buddhism are treated in a disrespectful manner,'' she said. She criticised the council and high-ranking monks who have turned a blind eye to the problem.

In India, relics excavated from ancient chedis during the period of British colonisation were displayed as artifacts in glass caskets in museums, she said.

In largely Buddhist countries such as Burma, Sri Lanka and Thailand, relics should be treated as sacred and kept in chedis where they can be worshipped.

The group will lobby Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont to ask the Indian government to remove the relics from public museums and instead put them in chedis.

In Mumbai, India, the construction has already begun of a ''Global Pagoda'' where relics can be kept.

Buddhists believe worshipping the Lord Buddha's relics brings prosperity and happiness.