Wilfrid Laurier University

Since 2021, Professor Jason Neelis of Wilfred Laurier University has been working with a team in Lahore to document and photograph over 6,000 Buddhist rock carvings, which include an estimated 37,000 petroglyphs and inscriptions, dating from the 1st-8th century CE along the banks of the Upper Indus River in Northern Pakistan. These carvings and inscriptions will be destroyed with the completion of the Diamer-Bhasha dam, anticipated for 2028 or earlier, which will flood a 47-km section of the riverbank. Support from the Foundation will enable Neelis’ team to finish the urgent documentation and digitization of these sites and artefacts. The Foundation’s grant also supports training for local agents to become ambassadors and conservators of their region’s Buddhist heritage by funding specialized scholarly conferences and providing Buddhist Studies training for advanced graduate students in the region, as well as promoting the global dissemination of the digitized Buddhist rock art through a public digital art exhibit.