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ISLAMABAD – The documentary film, “Gandhara: The Buddhist Heritage of Pakistan”, featuring rich Buddhist heritage has showcased the Gandhara civilization that flourished between the 1st century CE to 7th century CE in different parts of the country. The documentary sheds light on historical roots of Gandhara civilization and captures the entire landscape of historical sites with the help of drone camera. It shows the lush green mountainous regions of the country and visible intact structures of Buddhsit historical heritage sites with panoramic scenes of high altitude mountain peaks of Pakistan.
The architectural and artistic stone works of Gandhara such as statues, stupas, monasteries, temples, houses, and the zigzag tracks leading to the historical sites of the remains make eye-catching view. Gandhara, literally mean the land of fragrance, the name of the region included Peshawar valley, Buner, Bajaur, and hills of Swat valley — the northwestern areas of present-day Pakistan.
It was this region which gave birth to one the glorious and ancient world religion — the Gandhara civilization. Subsequently, the civilization has started spreading in all directions including Afghanistan and Potohar plateau in Punjab and Sindh. The Gandhara civilization represents human development, knowledge, religion, art, and history as the modern city of Taxila was a famous centre of learning for art, architecture, medicine, and religion. Similarly, according to archeologists, the city was a home to the world’s oldest recognized universities as thousands of students used to come here for education from Greece, China, Sri Lanka, Syria, and other parts of the world to study philosophy, politics, music, dance, mathematics, commerce, law, art of hunting, archery, elephant lore, and warfare, etc.
The film was screened at Temple Trees on November 16 as a follow up on bilateral discussions between Prime Minister Imran Khan and Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.
It was jointly produced by the High Commission of Pakistan in Sri Lanka and Siddhivinayak Cine Arts (Private) Limited in collaboration with the Ministry of Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs of Srilanka was launched in Sri Lanka on visual journey of the Gandhara Buddhist heritage sites of Pakistan.
The documentary also focuses on rich historical collection of Buddhist remains discovered from different parts of the country.
The artistic work of stone crafting, relics, utensils, and other artifacts take the onlookers on a centuries old long visual journey to recapture the lifestyle of the civilization from the past. The civilization has left indelible on the historical landscape of the world history.
The documentary was launched at the Temple Trees (Prime Minister’s office) by His Excellency, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, in the presence of Venerable Buddhist monks, honourable Speaker of Srilankan Parliament, Cabinet and State Ministers, MPs, ambassadors of Buddhist countries, as well as business, tourism and media fraternity of Sri Lanka.
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