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Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Iran Book News Agency (IBNA) - Culture Minister visits Tajikistan

The cultural week of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Republic of Tajikistan began on March 23, 2011 with a message from the president of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
IBNA: According to the public relations department of the ministry of culture and Islamic guidance of the Islamic Republic of Iran a part of the message reads as follows:

"The culture of the great, ancient land of Persia (Iran) is as old as humanity and has been able to pass through all the history's ups and downs in the form of myths, epics and traditions. The residents of the land enjoy rituals and customs which outstandingly tally with their societies and lifestyle."

In the opening ceremony of the cultural week, minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Mohammad Husseini, addressed the audience in a speech in which he expressed happiness to see that after 1100 years, Rudaki is still revered by Persian-speaking nations. He also appreciated the long-lasting cultural commonalities of the two nations.

Also in the ceremony, Dastiyev, the first deputy culture minister of Tajikistan stated in his speech that arranging such ceremonies assists the recognition of Iranian culture by Tajiks. "The rich Iranian culture can help the rise of this land's (Tajikistan) art and literature," he said.

He expressed happiness over the diversity of the programs of the week and hoped Tajikistan would be a good host for Iranian artists.

Later in the ceremony, the Islamic Republic of Iran ambassador in Tajikistan said holding such cultural weeks expands our understanding about the arts and culture of our co-cultures in other sides of borders.

Other speakers of the ceremony were Alireza Ghazveh and Fazel Nazari from Iran together with a Tajik poet who embellished the meeting with their declamations.

After the ceremony and in the second day of the week, a conference was held in the presence of a number of Khujand poets, writers and artists and Iran's minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Mohammad Husseini and his accompanying delegate. Prior to the confab, Husseini made a visit to Kamal Khujandi Museum Garden and the Moslehodin Mosque of the city. Kamal Khujandi was a Persian (Tajik) Sufi and Persian ghazal (sonnet) poet of 14th century (8th century hijri).

The conference was held at the hall of the museum and received popular welcome by Khujandis. In the meeting, Husseini asserted Iran's intention to arrange a more comprehensive and inclusive cultural program in the city. "When dealing with culture and cultural writings, many believe Abu Hafs Soghadi was the first to write down Persian culture," said Husseini in the meeting regretting over the loss of the encyclopedia in the present time.

He further valued the long-lasting history of the city and its historical luminaries who have all added to the supremacy of the Persian language.

"The flagship of our common culture is Kamaledin Masoud Khujandi who was a celebrated 14th century poet and mystic and a companion to Hafiz Shirazi," he added.

The meeting was continued by declamation and rehearsals from Parviz Beigi Habibolahi, Saeid Biabanaki, Alireza Ghazveh, Fazel Nazari and Erfan Nazar Aghari.

The programs of the culture minister in Tajikistan were followed by a journey to Kulob, 200km away from Dushanbe, to visit Mir Ali Hamedani's tomb, one of the biggest Shiite Gnostics. In a met with the city's officials and called for added cultural relations between Hamedan, Kulob and Kashmir.

Further in his visit, Husseini attended a meeting with Tajikistan's parliament speaker and delivered Ahmadinejad's message to him.

Attending the Ferdowsi celebration conference was one of the programs of Mr. Minister which took place at Etefagh hall of Tajikistan.

17th century anchor unveiled for Surtis - The Times of India

SURAT: The Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) celebrated the World Heritage Day by dedicating the 17th century anchor for public viewing at Navadi Ovara and releasing a book 'At the Core' on the city's heritage treasure on Monday.

A grand function was organised at Navadi Ovara at Nanpura under the chairmainship of mayor Raju Desai on Monday. The mayor inaugurated the historic anchor placed on the elevated concrete structure and released the book on city's heritage treasure.

Official sources said the main idea behind putting the 17th century anchor is to remind the residents about the glorious trade history of this erstwhile port city. The original anchor was fished out during the dredging exercise in river Tapi many years ago.

The book on city's heritage treasure 'At the Core', which has been published by Urban Management Centre and written by Manvita Baradi and Meghna Malhotra, will give an in-depth insight about the historic buildings and structures present in different corners of the city. Each of the heritage structures and their past history has been explained in detail to spread awareness among the residents.

Desai said, "This is a historic city and we have heritage treasure in abundance. The only need is to preserve it in a manner that our coming generations would know about the glorious past of this amazing city."

Restoration of Thousand-Handed Guanyin statue started - People's Daily Online


A technician conducts laser scanning on the Thousand-Handed Guanyin statue. (Photo by Zhou Hengyi, Xinhua)

A project of salvageable preservation on a Thousand-Handed Guanyin statue started formally at the site of the Dazu Rock Carvings located in Dazu County of southwest China's Chongqing Municipality on April 18, 2011.

The Dazu Rock Carvings are a series of Chinese religious sculptures and carvings dating back as far as the 7th century A.D., which depict and are influenced by Buddhist, Confucian and Taoist beliefs.

Listed as a World Heritage Site, the Dazu Rock Carvings are made up of 75 protected sites containing some 50,000 statues with more than 100,000 Chinese characters forming inscriptions and epigraphs.