Study and Acquisition History of the Two Buddha’s Images in the Pakistan Army Museum

The Pak Army MuseumPak Army Museum Rawalpindi was established and inaugurated by the Commander-in-Chief Pakistan Army, General Mohammad Musa, on 24th October, 1961. The Museum was initially housed in two of the Army barracks of General Headquarters in Rawalpindi (Siddiqi 1963: 35). Later on, a third hall was constructed in the same premises to accommodate a collection of various objects, including Buddhist period sculptures, mostly donated to the Museum. The present building was inaugurated by General Pervez Musharraf, the then president of Pakistan in 2000 and the artifacts were shifted to the new building and, among other objects, the sculptures were also displayed there. However, after its renovation in 2009, the arts objects, such as stone tools, and the two sculptures were removed from the display and, since then, the Pak Army Museum Rawalpindi only exhibits armories, warfare and other relevant objects. The sculptures were told shifted to one of its rooms, yet their present whereabouts is not known to the author.