Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province government will celebrate Buddha festival at the ancient Buddhist monastery Takht-i-Bhai in northwest Mardan district as part of promoting religious tourism and centuries old civilisation.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Culture and Tourism Minister K P Atif said the celebration of events would promote religious tourism in the province and send a message of peace to the world besides improving the image of Pakistan.
The minister was interacting with a delegation from the World Bank.
The monastery is perched about 500 feet atop a small hill, about 2 kilometers east of the Takht Bhai bazaar in Mardan district. Once known as the heart of the Gandhara civilisation, the monastery attracts tourists, historians, archaeologists and Buddhists from across the world.
Pakistan has a number of religious heritage sites and is home to various sacred religious places of old civilisations in Harrappa, Taxiala, Takht Bhai, Nankana Sahib, Gurdwara Sri Panja Sahib Hasanabdal and Gandhara Civilisation.