Oman’s Supreme Court President Justice Dr Sheikh Ishaq bin Ahmed Al Busaidi visited Lok Virsa (National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage) here on Sunday at Shakarparian. He was accompanied by Pakistan Federal Shariat Court Chief Justice Agha Rafiq Ahmed Khan and Oman’s Ambassador to Pakistan Mohamed Said Mohamed Al-Lawati.
On his arrival, the distinguished guest was warmly received by Lok Virsa Executive Director Khalid Javaid and Deputy Director Museum Anwaar-ul-Haq and briefed him about the salient features of Pakistan’s traditional culture with special focus on the functioning of Lok Virsa as a specialised body dealing with documentation, preservation and dissemination of the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of the country.
Later, the delegation was taken around three-dimensional creative displays at the Pakistan National Museum of Ethnology, popularly known as Heritage Museum, showcasing living indigenous folk culture and lifestyle of the people not only from the mainstream but also from the remotest parts and regions including Tharparkar, Kalash, Chitral, Mal Kohistan and Cholistan.
The delegate took keen interest in the museum displays and praised the creativity put in by Lok Virsa in establishing and maintaining the museum according to high standards of maintainability. They were particularly impressed by the “Hall of Sufis and Shrines” wherein the services of the sufis and scholars were explained through a dioramic form showing sufis’ message of peace and harmony to the mankind. The word sufi is derived from Arabic word “Safa” meaning purity. Sufism is a mystic tradition encompassing a diverse range of beliefs and practices. This mystic sufi tradition has existed in all parts of Pakistan and is a binding force that brings people of diverse cultures together. The saints whose shrines dot the landscape are the meeting place of the masses, the rich and the poor, the rulers and the ruled, and serve as a humanising force in society at both cultural and spiritual levels.
They were also extremely happy to see the “Truck Art” of Pakistan which is a colourful, dazzling, art work on vehicles and other means of transportation, which is found in abundance in Pakistan. Decorations are not done only on trucks and buses but on all kinds of vehicles like tankers, mini-buses, trucks, rickshaws, tongas and even donkey carts moving on the road throughout the country.
The delegate was also very impressed to see the museum hall of antiquity and continuity, hall of ballads and romances, thematic display on textile presenting the mastery of women artisan, hall of architecture portraying more than 32 dying traditional architectural skills such as mirror work, marble intarsia, fresco work, tile mosaic, pietra dura and blue tiles.
A live musical performance by folk artists was also a part of the visit programme for the Omani delegation. The musicians presented famous folk numbers.
In his comments in the visitors’ book, the Oman chief justice wrote: “Pakistan has a very beautiful and dynamic culture. Both the countries, Pakistan and Oman, have a lot of similarities in the culture and art which need to be presented here at Lok Virsa along with the link passages of other countries. The museum is well maintained and effectively projecting the rich culture of the brotherly Islamic country Pakistan. We pray for the success and prosperity of Pakistan and its great nation.”
