Taxila: A Forgotten Axis of Sacred History and Civilizational Memory
The passing of Gautama Buddha, traditionally dated to 483 BCE at Kushinagar, marked not an end but the beginning of a remarkable civilizational journey. According to ancient Buddhist tradition, his cremated remains were divided among eight contemporary kingdoms, each enshrining them in sacred stupas. Among these relics, the bodily remains—particularly the tooth relics—came to occupy a position of profound spiritual reverence across the Buddhist world.
One of the most significant destinations of these sacred relics was Taxila, a city renowned as the greatest intellectual and religious centers of the ancient world. After Bodh Gaya and Kushinagar, Taxila emerged as one of the most venerated cities in Buddhist history. Situated within the region historically known as Gandhara, Taxila functioned not merely as a city, but as a vast trans-regional university system whose academic and monastic networks extended from Swat and Peshawar to Bamiyan in present-day Afghanistan.
It was from this fertile intellectual soil that Buddhism traveled beyond the Indian subcontinent. Monks trained in Taxila carried the teachings of the Buddha to China, Tibet, Korea, and Central Asia, profoundly shaping the spiritual destiny of East and Southeast Asia. The Vajrayana tradition, one of the three principal schools of Buddhism, traces its origins to Swat (ancient Uddiyana) and to the revered master Padmasambhava, whose legacy remains deeply embedded in Tibetan and Himalayan Buddhism.
Archaeological excavations led by Sir John Marshall in the early twentieth century revealed not only the grandeur of Taxila but also unearthed sacred Buddhist relics, including tooth relics traditionally associated with the Buddha. These discoveries reaffirmed Taxila’s enduring sanctity within the Buddhist imagination. Today, Buddhist pilgrims from Sri Lanka, Japan, Korea, China, and Thailand regard the soil of Gandhara with deep spiritual affection.
Yet Pakistan, the modern custodian of this unparalleled heritage, remains largely unaware of its civilizational wealth. Beyond Buddhism, the land holds sacred sites for Hindus, Sikhs, and ancient civilizations—from Katas Raj and Hinglaj Mata to Nankana Sahib and Mohenjo-daro. Few countries possess such a convergence of sacred geographies within their borders.
In an age where tourism has become one of the world’s most powerful industries, Pakistan’s future may well lie not in conventional leisure tourism, but in historical and religious pilgrimage. The careful preservation, dignified presentation, and respectful opening of these sacred sites could transform the country into a global center of civilizational tourism.
Taxila, now reduced to ruins, once shaped the spiritual map of Asia. To rediscover it is not merely an economic opportunity—it is an act of historical remembrance and cultural justice.
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