An agreement has been reached to conclusion between Pakistan and Japan to enhance the preservation and exhibition of the antiquities of Taxila Museum under which the Government of Japan will provide a special grant of Rs.10 crores.
The Taxila Museum is located amidst the ancient Gandharan Buddhist ruins at Taxila, a UNESCO World Heritage Site with Gandharan art of great historical and cultural value.
There are some 4000 objects displayed, including stone, stucco, terracotta, silver, gold, iron and semiprecious stones in the museum. Mainly the display consists of objects from the period 600 B.C to 500 AD. The Buddhist, Hindu and Jain religions are well represented through these objects discovered from three ancient cities and more than two dozen Buddhist stupas and monasteries and Greek temples in the region.
Taxila Museum has one of the most significant and comprehensive collections of stone Buddhist sculpture from the first to the seventh centuries in Pakistan (known as Gandharan art. The core of the collection comes from excavated sites in the Taxila Valley, particularly the excavations of Sir John Marshall. Other objects come from excavated sites elsewhere in Gandhanra, from donations such as the Ram Das Collection, or from material confiscated by the police and customs authorities.