DUSHANBE, December 12, 20008, Asia-Plus — International Steering Committee holds its yearly meeting to ensure the overall supervision and monitoring of the implementation of the UNESCO/Japan Trust Fund project, Preservation of the Buddhist Monastery of Ajina Teppa, at Tojikiston Hotel in Dushanbe today at 3:00 p.m., according to the MFA information department.
The meeting will bring together the representatives of the MFA, Tajikistan’s National Commission for UNESCO Affairs, Ministry of Culture, Academy of Sciences, as well as the representatives of the UNSECO Almaty Cluster Office, international experts and national project coordinator to discuss the final phase of the project and prospects of further activities on preservation of this historical and cultural relic.
UNESCO, in cooperation with the Japanese Government, launched the project, Preservation of the Buddhist Monastery of Ajina Teppa, among several other cultural heritage conservation projects along the Silk Roads.
The Buddhist site of Ajina Teppa, which dates back to the 7th and 8th centuries, is an earthen site situated in the Khatlon province. It was considerably damaged during decades of neglect after the excavations carried out in Soviet times and in dire need of emergency consolidation work. The site possesses great educational potential thanks to the discovery of a very large reclining Buddha statue measuring 12-meters high, among other priceless objects, now displayed in the Tajikistan National Museum of Antiquity in Dushanbe.
