PESHAWAR: The Peshawar Museum’s Buddha statues were the main attraction at the exhibition in Seoul, South Korea, which was inaugurated on Thursday.

Pakistan’s ambassador to South Korea Rahim Hayat Qureshi and chief monk who especially attended the event inaugurated the exhibition.

“The Gandhara art exhibition will help promote a positive image of the country globally,” said Mr Qureshi in his inaugural speech. He highlighted that the artifacts from Pakistan had been brought to the exhibition for the first time in seven decades.

Three-month exhibition of artefacts kicks off

The exhibition which commenced at the Seoul Culture Centre would continue for three months and 40 statues of Buddha from the Peshawar Museum were for the first time being displayed there.

The Peshawar Museum has a rich and rare collection of Gandhara Art and Civilisation. There are around 3,500 artifacts of Gandhara art alone in the museum, said director Khyber Pakhtunkhwa archaeology and museums Dr Abdul Samad while talking to Dawn on phone from Seoul.

The followers of Buddhism, monks and art lovers attended the event and lauded the Pakistani government and the archaeology department for their efforts to preserve and maintain the remains of their religion in its original form.

On the first day of the exhibition, ambassadors from Bhutan, Taiwan and Sri Lanka participated and expressed special interest in the Buddha statues brought from the museum.

“Buddhism in Korea reached from a small village these days called Chota Lahor in Swabi district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. A Buddhist monk named Maralanda travelled to Korea via China in the 4th century AD and introduced Mahayana sect of Buddhism there,” said Dr Samad while explaining the religious and historical link between the two countries.

He said that the main objective of this display was to revive ancient links between Pakistan and South Korea through this cultural heritage exchange.

“Korea has built motorway for Pakistan and we built cultural highway connecting both countries through Gandhara remains,” Dr Samad said.

He hoped that the exhibition would not only create awareness among Koreans about religious and historic connection with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, but also attract pilgrims which could boost religious tourism in the province.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2017