Sariputta and Moggallana were the most honored disciples of the Buddha. Sariputta, dubbed by his master the disciple of "great intelligence," could expound doctrine, the story goes, with the same depth of meaning as the Buddha himself. Moggallana was the disciple of "potency," and Buddhists believe that he could become invisible, control ferocious beasts and transport his body through the air.
After Sariputta and Moggallana died (about 480 B.C.), their bones were preserved inside two stupas (large stone monuments) at Sanchi in central India, which became a center of Buddhist pilgrimages. Later generations of Buddhists neglected them, but...
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