Presentation on ‘Gandhara Renaissance’

The Gandhara Art and Culture Association (GACA) organised a presentation on ‘Gandhara Renaissance’ in the context of revival of peace, prosperity and interfaith harmony in the region here.

Three years ago, GACA, through the chief Buddhist Monk of Korea Jeon Woon Deok, shared a proposal with President Asif Zardari for revival of the oldest university in the world at Taxila. The president immediately issued a directive for donation of 100 canals of land next to Dharma Ra Jika stupa in Taxila. This proposal may now be close to fruition as the chairman of GACA Anwar Saifullah Khan, in his welcome address on the occasion, urged Salman Faruqui, secretary general to the president, to implement the president’s directive. He also requested the business and diplomatic communities

to donate for the worthy

cause.

Three eminent professors and a research scholar made presentations on Gandhara. Dr. Abdul Rehman gave a detailed account of Gandhara art and how it started in this region. He said Gandhara means the ‘Land of Fragrance.’ “Even though the fragrance has unfortunately disappeared, the importance of reviving this region to its original form and fragrant glory can hardly be over-emphasised,” he stressed.

Professor Saeed Akhtar analysed an eminent Gandhara relic (the fasting Buddha), which is a unique, 2,000 years old masterpiece of art which has never been promoted in the past. Gandhara art scholar from South Korea, Esther Park, who is living in Pakistan, feels that with proper promotion, this work of art can attract tourists in large numbers, especially from Buddhist countries.

Dr. Amineh Hoti, professor from Cambridge University, delivered a lecture on the ‘Significance of knowledge in interfaith harmony.’ She already has to her credit, the start of an interfaith institute in Cambridge University, and now intends to carry on this important work in her own country.

Esther’s presentation on ‘Gandhara Renaissance’ primarily focused on the development of Kyung Ju, a Koran city similar to Taxila. She shared with the audience, the ‘before’ and ‘after’ photographs of the city to show how seriousness of purpose led to its transformation. Referring to a UN report released after the Korean war, Esther mentioned that the said report predicted no hope in the future for Korea. “But through persistent hard work by the Koreans, their country is now among top-three most developed economies in the world,” she stated with a sense of pride.

Esther said, Pakistan has greater potential than Korea and urged the country’s government and business community to unite for the cause.

More on that can be read here