TAXILA: Live performances by a Swiss artist, Buddhist folk singers from Sindh, legendary folk singer Sain Zahoor and dhamal with dholl by local artists enthralled participants of the first Gandhara festival that opened at Gandhara art village near Taxila on Sunday.

A large number of local artists, sculptors and stone carvers have also established stalls at the venue. The event showcases a fusion of traditional Pakistani and Swiss music with performances by renowned artists from both the nations, including Wajih Nizami, Markus Hauser and Loris Peloso.

Addressing the event, Director General Punjab Arts Council Mohammad Mehboob Alam said the promotion of culture was the top priority of the government and the recent approval of the first cultural policy of the province was a testament to the efforts of the Punjab Arts Council. He added that Punjab Arts Council will organise festivals on Harappa, Sindhi and Hakra culture of Cholistan along with Gandhara. He said that cultural fares will also be organised in all other districts of Punjab.

Zaildar Ahsan Shah, Chairman Pakistan-Romania Friendship Association, said Pakistan was home to diversified cultural heritage spanning over a period of thousands of years with the rich legacy of Gandhara art which was the cradle of Gandhara civilisation.

He was of the view that such events would play a key role not only in the promotion of local art but also in promotion of the soft image of the country. He said in the world districts or cities mostly have one site or cultural or historical importance but Taxila was blessed with more than 30 ancient cities of cultural importance, all on Unesco world cultural heritage list.

Dr Bashah Sardar, Professor at the Department of Pakistan Studies, Allama Iqbal Open University Islamabad, said that Pakistan was home to the glorious Gandhara civilisation and the Gandhara Buddhist civilisation. He said Panini, the great Sanskrit grammarian and author of a famous book on Sanskrit grammar, used to teach here while Ashtadhyayi lived and taught at Taxila University. Charaka, a physician considered the father of Indian medicine because of his contribution to the development of Ayurveda, was also an alumnus. While the most influential teacher from the university was Acharya Chanakya, also known as Kautilya, the legendary political philosopher, thinker and royal adviser.

Chief guest, Khalid Tamour Akbar, the executive director Pakistan Research Centre for a Community with Shared Future, said Taxila was once the cradle of the Gandhara civilisation, famous as a centre of learning for sculpture and art, architecture, education, medicine and religion, and home to one of the oldest recognised universities in the world. Today Taxila is on the same geo-strategic importance on which it was in the past. He said Taxila was on the silk route in the past and now on the CPEC route and its strategic importance is also the same like its cultural importance and such events would boost its rich cultural heritage.

He underlined the need to promote religious tourism by projecting the Gandhara civilisation and Buddhist heritage of Pakistan at the international level.

Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2023