2000-year-old Buddha statue from Peshawar to be exhibited in Switzerland

SHAHID SHALMANI
The giant statue of Buddha in Peshawar Museum.

PESHAWAR: A uniquely large Buddha statue that has been in Peshawar Museum for more than a century will soon be displayed at an exhibition in Switzerland, officials at Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) Department of Archaeology said on Friday.
The department’s director, Abdul Samad, said KP’s Archaeology and Tourism Minister Muhammad Tariq signed an agreement to this effect with Rietberg Museum Director Albert Lutz on Tuesday in Zurich.
The exhibition will begin in December this year and last for three months and 18 days, Tariq said.

“The statue has been insured for $20 million,” he told Arab News. “In case of any damage to it, the money will be paid to Peshawar Museum.”
This is the first time the statue will be taken to an international exhibition. “Every exhibition has a central attraction,” Samad told Arab News. “This sculpture will play that role in Switzerland.”
The KP administration is promoting religious tourism, he said, adding that the province was not only home to the popular Gandhara civilization but is also sacred to Hindus and Sikhs.
“Last year, we did an exhibition about Buddhism in South Korea and displayed 42 objects for three months,” Samad said.
“Young people who’ve been brought up in Buddhist lands after the 9/11 attacks don’t know much about Pakistan, especially KP, and its significance to their religion. We want to raise awareness about it throughout the world.”
Tourists from around the world visit Switzerland and its museums, and their encounter with the Buddha statue will help promote a positive image of Pakistan, Samad said.
The statue is 2,000 years old, said one of the department’s research officers, Nawaz-ud-Din, adding: “It was discovered during British rule in Seri Bahlol in Mardan in 1909, and handed over to Peshawar Museum in 1911.”
Seri Bahlol is a world heritage site located about 70 km northwest of KP’s provincial capital Peshawar.
Nawaz-ud-Din said the statue is 365 cm high and 46.42 cm wide, and the museum has 4,147 other objects related to Buddhism.
Peshawar Museum was established in 1907. Its previous name was Victoria Hall, as it was established in Queen Victoria’s memory during British rule.