Gandhara festival kicks off today

A five-day Gandhara festival, featuring exhibitions, panel discussion, and storytelling sessions, is starting from Tuesday (today) at Taxila Museum.

The event is being organised by the Center for Culture and Development (CCD). CCD Director Izzah Khan told APP that the festival aimed at integrating tangible and intangible cultural heritage of Gandhara Civilisation in local context; to highlight the respect for heritage and cultural diversity and to promote cultural pluralism through the exhibition, panel discussions, sites visits, and showcasing of local crafts for sustainable tourism in Punjab.

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“We are also expecting to receive diversified audience from the local community, educational institutions, government departments, diplomatic missions, scholars, researchers, and artists among others”, she said.

Khan added that there should be maximum participation of youth from the local community who need to be sensitised about their culture and heritage so that students and the local community can feel a connection with their roots.

“The festival focuses on exploring the Gandhara Civilisation in Buddhist and Jain history in Pakistan,” she said, adding that they will open the festival for the public from October 6 to 9.