Friday 15 July 2016
Buddhist Remains are about 500 feet atop a small hill, about 2 kilometers east of the Takht
Bhai bazaar in Mardan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), once known as
the heart of the Gandhara civilization,
which attracts tourists,
historians, archaeologists and Buddhists from across the world.
The ostentatious structure and imposing relics of the
Buddhist monastery Takht-i-Bhai (Throne of Origins) has captivated a
large number of locals and tourists who have flocked to see the ancient
site which dates back to early 1st century AD. The site had been listed in the World Heritage List, it is considered one of the most well-structured Buddhist monasteries in Gandhara district.
In March 2013, a group of around 20
Buddhist monks from South Korea made the journey to the monastery of
Takht-e-Bahi, 170 kilometres (106 miles) from Islamabad. The monks defied
appeals from Seoul to abandon their trip for safety reasons and were guarded by
Pakistani security forces on their visit to the monastery, built of
ochre-coloured stone and nestled on a mountainside. From around 1,000 years BC
until the seventh century AD, northern Pakistan and parts of modern Afghanistan
formed the Gandhara kingdom, where Greek and Buddhist customs mixed to create
what became the Mahayana strand of the religion. The monk Marananta set out from
what is now northwest Pakistan to cross China and spread Buddhism on the Korean
peninsula during the fourth century. The authorities are even planning package
tours for visitors from China, Japan, Singapore and South Korea, including
trips to the Buddhist sites at Takht-e-Bahi, Swat, Peshawar and Taxila, near
Islamabad.
In 2012
the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) indicated that the
contemporary Buddhist population of Pakistan was minuscule with 1,492 adult
holders of national identity cards (CNICs). The total population of Buddhists
is therefore unlikely to be more than a few thousand
List
of Important Buddhist temples in Pakistan:
1.
Takht-i-Bahi
2.
Taxila
3.
Mingora
4.
Swat
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