Vesak Day, a Buddhist religious festival was celebrated at the Taxila Museum and Mohramurado Stupa here Monday to mark the birth, enlightenment and passing of Buddha.
The day is observed by Buddhists around the world and also known as Buddha Purnima and Buddha Day. It is traditionally celebrated on different days in various Buddhist countries and other parts of the world.
According to Buddhists, 2022 marks the 2,566th year of Lord Buddha’s attainment of enlightenment. The event was jointly organized by Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation C2D, The Serenity Resort, Gandhara Resource Center, Punjab Tourism (TDCP), Punjab Dept. of Archaeology and I-SAPS. A large number of people from different walks of life participated in this event
Mr. Mohan Wijewickrama, Sri Lankan High Commissioner on the occasion spoke on the spiritual and cultural significance of Mahabodi Tree. While Mr. Chakkrid Kraichaiwong, Ambassador of Embassy of Thailand highlighted the spiritual and cultural significance of Peace Bell installed at Taxila Museum, while Mr Tapas Andhikari of Nepal also shared the message of Budha.
Speaking on the occasion, Aftab Rana, MD of PTDC said, “Pakistan is country which is rich in cultural heritage sites of different religions. It is our moral responsibility to work individually and collectively for the preservation and promotion of cultural heritage and sites of religious significance to maintain their identity”. He said, Taxila and the areas Peshawar, Swabi, Mardan and Lower Swat in KP could be become a hub for Buddhist tourism with right policy and plan. Millions of Buddhist tourists interested in exploring the rich Gandhara heritage will be interested to visit these areas.
Buddha spread the message of peace, tolerance, love and harmony and this is the time when we need to spread this message more pro-actively. Such events are instrumental in spreading the messages of peace to promote religious heritage tourism and project soft image of the country. This event also focuses on Gandhara renaissance and restore its past glory, he said.
The participants lauded the initiative of organizing Vesak celebration and urged Buddhists to visit Pakistan and help the government preserve their heritage as well as give proposals regarding religious tourism and religious festivals.
Dr. Nadeem Omer, Executive Director, Gandhara Resource Center briefed the participants about the value of Pakistani Heritage sites and took them for a visit to Mohra Muradu and the sacred sites of Budhists.
He said that Pakistanis are custodian of budhist heritage, we welcome budhists living in Pakistan and from other countries as well to promote interfaith harmony in the region. With such kind of events will invite hundreds of thousands of religious tourists to Palistan in future.” We are greatful to goverment, PTDC and Archaeology Department for making this event successful nd facilitating us,” he added
Ambassador of Thailand to Pakistan said, “Pakistan is our second home and the land of Gandhaya is very important to us. This event will promote Gandhara and tourism in Pakistan.”
