“When it was decided that that Sir Asutosh [Mookerjee] should be the person to receive the Relic of the Buddha from the hands of Governor of Bengal at the Government House, he reminded that no person could before the Governor with bare feet; and as a Brahman he said it would be showing disrespect to the holy Relic of the #Buddha if he does not receive it in his Brahmanical dress with bare feet, an in official attire he declined to go. I thereupon wrote to the Private Secretary of Lord Ronaldshay that at the reception of the Relic at the Government ancient ceremonies will be observed. For the first time since the construction of the Government House, the ceremonial rule was relaxed, and the Buddhists entered barefooted the Government House in a grand procession. We thought it an honour to have the foremost personality in Bengal [Sir Asutosh Mookerjee] as the President of the Maha Bodhi Society…” Anagarika Dharmapala