Pakistan declares religious site of Panj Tirath Hindu as a national heritage

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ESHAWAR: The provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in north-western Pakistan has declared Panj Tirath‘s ancient Hindu religious site in Peshawar as national heritage.

There is also a temple and a lawn with date palm trees in Panj Tirath which got its name from the five pools of water present there. The heritage site’s five pools now come under the ambit of Chacha Yunus Park and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Under the KP Antiquities Act 2016, the KP Directorate of Arcahaeology and Museums issued a notification declaring the land in the Panj Tirath Park as a heritage place.

Pandu, a mythical king in the Mahabharata, is believed to have belonged to this area and Hindus used to come to these pools for bathing during the month of Karteek and worshiping under the trees for two days.

During the reign of the Afghan Durrani dynasty in 1747 the site was destroyed, but it was restored by local Hindus during the Sikh rule era in 1834 and worship began again.

The government also announced that anyone found guilty of damaging the historic site would receive a fine of up to Rs 2 million and five years in prison.

The directorate of archaeology asked the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to clear the invasion site and allow archeologists to perform much-needed preservation work. This also requested that a boundary wall be built around the site.