Ismaili.NET - Heritage F.I.E.L.D.

The Aga Khan, spiritual leader of Shia Ismaili Muslims, announced the first Ismaili Centre to be built in the Middle East. Ismaili Centre, Dubai, when completed, will be comparable in scope and standing to existing major centres in London, Vancouver and Lisbon, one underway in Dushanbe and other in advanced planning stages in Toronto. The foundation ceremony was attended by His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Deputy Chairman of Dubai Executive Council and President of Department of Civil Aviation representing Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai.

Three pavilions highlighting religious minorities of Gujarat are attracting curious visitors at the university grounds here, giving them an opportunity to understand the communities.
Through this initiative, the state government hopes to foster an atmosphere of cosmopolitanism in communally sensitive Gujarat.

This weekend will see the environs at Humayun's Tomb come alive with an evening of history and architectural excellence. The tomb has been chosen as the venue for the prestigious Aga Khan Award for Architecture, 2004.
The awards mark the completion of the ninth cycle of the programme (2002-04) and will be announced by His Highness the Aga Khan. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be the chief guest at the ceremony.

Only a month-and-a-half after the Aga Khan Trust for Culture handed over the 16th century Humayun's Tomb to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) for maintainence, the tomb is back to its original neglected state.
The sandstone water channels that had been restored for the first time after 40 years, running through the 30-acre Char Bagh, are dry. There are only patches of stagnant water in this 4-km stretch and mostly nothing at all. The caretakers at the site say it has been like this since April. They also point to the unruly grass that is now covering the sandstone pavements.

The Aga Khan, billionaire spiritual leader of the world's 15 million Shia Ismaili Muslims, met Indian Finance Minister Jaswant Singh during an official visit here Tuesday.
He was due to inaugurate the restoration of a tomb of the Moghul Emperor Humayun later in the day. The work was carried out jointly by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture and the Archaeological Survey of India.

The Aga Khan, who is on the second day of a six-day visit here, was also to meet leaders of the Ismaili Muslim community which has roots in India going back many centuries.

[India News]: New Delhi, Nov.26 : The spiritual leader of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, His Highness, the Aga Khan, today called on Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram in the capital.
The Aga Khan is meeting the Indian leadership to discuss the broadening framework of activities being undertaken by the Aga Khan Development Network in the country.

Khan met President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and the External Affairs Minister, Natwar Singh, yesterday.

The head of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims, Prince Karim Aga Khan IV, today met Dr APJ Abdul Kalam and Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee to discuss ways in which his foundation can work with the India in the fields of education, health, rural development. On his visit to India after 11 years, Aga Khan spoke of the potential for cooperation in areas such as healthcare, micro-credit, financial services, humanitarian assistance and the promotion of NGOs, officials said.

By encouraging and supporting revitalisation of Islam's heritage across many cultures in which it is expressed, the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) has been able to help generate new resources, talent and energy that is being recognised and has an impact far beyond the Islamic world, said Dr Suha Ozkan, Secretary-General of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture.

Spiritual leader of the Ismaili community, Prince Karim Aga Khan arrived here on Tuesday and will discuss with Indian leaders the future cooperation in restoration of heritage sites. The Aga Khan's foundation is engaged in promotion of education, rural development, health care and preservation of heritage sites in India. He unveiled late on Tuesday a $650,000 project for restoration of the gardens, water channels and fountains at Mughal Emperor Humayun's Tomb, which contains more than 100 Mogul graves. It is one of UNESCO's 23 World Heritage Sites in India.

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