‘Buddha statue display in Switzerland to promote religious tourism in KP’

PESHAWAR: Display of an ancient Buddha statue from Peshawar Museum at the Rietberg Museum in Zurich, Switzerland, is expected to revive and promote religious tourism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, an official said.

The nine feet high sculpture is one of the two rare Buddha statues at the Peshawar Museum have been shifted to the Rietberg Museum after the governments of the two countries signed an agreement a few months ago.

The statue was excavated in 1909 from Sahri Bahlol village near the archaeological site of an ancient Buddhist monastery in Mardan and has been displayed in Peshawar Museum since then.

The sculpture would be displayed for 100 days in the exhibition where statues and other relics from six countries would also be put on display.

The first Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for transporting the Buddha sculpture was signed by the officials of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Tourism and Museums Department and the Switzerland government in March.

Later, the governments of the two countries also signed an agreement in this regard to finalising the terms and conditions for transportation and return of the statue.

Under the agreement, the Swiss government is liable to bear the charges for transportation and safe return of the Buddha statue.

The Swiss government would be liable to pay $20 million to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government if any damages were caused to the statue during the course of transportation, exhibition and its return to the province.

Research Officer at the Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, Nawazuddin, said that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Tourism and Museums Department and the Switzerland government had signed an agreement for cooperation to promote the religious tourism.

He said the agreement would open new avenues of cooperation in museums sector through capacity building of museum experts, arranging exchange visits, conducting joint research programmes, publications and to provide scholarships for doctoral and post-doctoral research for professionals and young scholars of Pakistan in Switzerland.

To a question, if the Directorate of Archaeology and Museums would be paid any amount for providing the relic, the official said that the federal government has agreed not to charge the damages cost and the Archaeology would not be paid any money for displaying the statue in the exhibition for 100 days.

“The money charged on account of tickets is a token money and estimated to generate up to Rs25,000 in 100 days which is a meagre amount so the federal government decided not to charge this amount,” he added.

Nawazuddin said that religious tourism has almost vanished after the 9/11 attacks in the province and sending the statue to the exhibition was aimed at reaching out to foreigners to show them that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa possessed such historical relics in its museums that are worth to visit and watch.

“Other countries are bringing their sculptures and other items on their own expenses but in our case, the Swiss government has agreed to pay for all the charges. It is a good opportunity for us to attract foreign tourists to visit Peshawar and other historical and religious places in the province,” he said.

To a question, he said that there were two sculptures of the same size and shape at the Peshawar Museum, adding that the visitors would not feel the absence of the Buddha statue.

Officials at the Directorate of Archaeology, Museums and Tourism were confident that sending the sculpture to the exhibition would help promote religious tourism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and generate revenue for the province.