TAXILA, April 29: A 19-member delegation of South Korean monks, Buddhist scholars, professors, tour operators and visitors on Sunday launched ‘Gandhara peace caravan’ for revival of religious tourism in Pakistan especially in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province.

The caravan led by Monk Hwa Ran and former South Korean chief of the army staff Park Hee Doo came here on a five-day official tour on the invitation of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Minister for Archaeology and Tourism Aqil Shah. The caravan was launched in collaboration with Gandhara Art and Cultural Association (GACA) of Pakistan.

The delegation members offered religious rituals at the Buddhist stupa established by Emperor Ashoka in 2nd century AD.

Talking to reporters, Monk Hwal-An-Han said their visit would play a key role in reviving religious tourism in Pakistan.

He said they would convince others back in South Korea to visit Pakistan for pilgrimage as they were satisfied with the arrangements made for their security. He went on to say that the government and all foreign missions based in Pakistan should join hands to conserve and restore the great spiritual inheritance at Takht Bahi Buddhist remains to promote peace and harmony and endorse their commitment to help flourish religio-cultural tourism in the region.

“Everyone (in South Korea) wants to come here but they are only scared due to security situation,” said former South Korean chief of the army staff Park Hee Doo, adding that delegation was so far satisfied with the security arrangements.

After the visit to Taxila Museum, Secretary-General, South Korean Gandhara Cultural Association, Lee Won Jong told reporters that South Korean tourists and pilgrims would love to visit places in Taxila and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP), which was at the heart of the ancient Gandhara civilisation. He said he would share details of his visit with South Korean chief monk, who wanted to preserve archeological sites and monuments of Gandhara civilisation.

“The Buddhist monks have appreciated the art pieces of the standing and seated Buddha figures and his life story depicted in the Gandhara Gallery of Taxila Museum,” said Ms Easter Park, GACA general secretary.

She said: “It is high time that we made collective efforts to revive past glory of this region as GACA wants to initiate this process by establishing a state-of-the-art research centre for Gandhara art and Buddhist philosophy. She said the Gandhara association was also planning to revive the 3,000-year-old university of Taxila with the same old features but with modern facilities.

Consultant Department of Tourism KPK Zahoor Durrani said the Tourism Corporation of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa invited the South Korean delegation to the province so that they could visit archeological sites and see the security situation in the province and persuade their countrymen to visit these places of historical and religious importance.

Earlier, the members of the peace caravan also visited ancient Julian monastery and stupa known as ancient Taxila University and Sirkap, the second city of ancient Taxila civilisation.

On their arrival, Curator Taxila Museum Nasir Khan briefed the delegation about the history and significance of the Taxila civilisation and artifacts on display at the museum.