Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Reviving 2,500-year-old Buddhist University

Taxila: The World's First University

Revival of 2,500-year-old Buddhist university planned
WQ, TheNews.com.pk, April 14, 2009

Islamabad -- Gandhara Art and Culture Association (GACA) has planned to revive the 2,500 year old Buddhist University of Taxila with the contemporary features of the 21st century.

Chief monk of Korea, Jeon Woon Deok, who is currently visiting Pakistan, has approved the site for the institute for which government has fully supported, Zulfiqar Rahim, director GACA told APP [in Pakistan] Monday [4/13/09].

The project of reviving the first university in the world, which dates back to 700 B.C.E., will take three years to complete with the help of government, public and private agencies, and Buddhist countries like Korea, Japan, and China to restore the existing monastery to its original look.

The idea will also boost the country's tourist industry as Buddhists from around the world visit Pakistan to perform their holy rituals, he said. GACA, he said, has also proposed the government to hold "21st Century Peace Caravan" organizing from Taxila and traveling to China, Korea, and Japan via the ancient Silk Route.

The association organized a two-day seminar on "Promotion and Preservation of Gandhara Art in Pakistan" in which the chief monk called for peace and harmony, as the world faces religious conflict and racial tension.

While talking about the essence of Buddhism, the chief monk said that Gandhara was the hub of all cultures and religions. Commercial activities by all the world's major religions co-existed here in a very peaceful and harmonious way. ["Pakistan,"] Korea, China, and Japan were traditionally Buddhist cultures with roots in Gandhara, he remarked. Source

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