Pak PM Task Force on Gandhara tourism organized visit to Mankyala Stupa
Islamabad, The Gulf Observer: Under the leadership of Minister of State Dr. Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, a visit was made to the historic Mankyala Stupa near Rawat Rawalpindi under the auspices of the Prime Minister’s Task Force for Gandhara Tourism. On this occasion Ambassador of Kenya, students, media men and representatives of civil society were also present in large number.
Speaking to the media in front of the two and a half thousand year old Stupa, Dr. Ramesh Kumar said that the Mankyala Stupa, the holiest of Buddhism, is part of the weekly visits of the Task Force to promote Gandhara tourism.
However, Dr. Ramesh lamented that like other non-Muslim minority places in the country, this great landmark of the Gandhara period is also being targeted by the encroachment mafia.
According to Dr. Ramesh Kumar, he has been active for the promotion of religious tourism in Pakistan for the past few years. He went on to say that the arrival of Buddhist tourists from Nepal, China, Korea, Myanmar, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Indonesia and Malaysia is inevitable to promote the soft image of Pakistan as well as for the economic uplift of the country.
To a question, Dr. Ramesh said that last month, when he was appointed as the Chairman/Minister of State of the Task Force on Gandhara Tourism constituted by the Prime Minister, he started visiting the archeological sites of the Gandhara civilization, especially the Buddhist ones on weekly basis and the Wednesday has been attributed to Gautama Buddha.
The Minister added that the Buddhists believe that Gautama Buddha attained enlightenment in his birth as a sattva prince at this Mankyala Stupa .But when he saw a lioness and her seven cubs starving with hunger, he sacrificed himself to save these lives and became immortal forever. According to local population, Mankyala Stupa is named after Raja Man or Manak. Mankyala Stupa is also considered as one of the eighty four thousand stupas built under the orders of Ashoka the Great. Every Buddhist in the world wishes to visit the holy places of Gandhara period in Pakistan, the Minister concluded.
