PESHAWAR – The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has declared the ancient Hindureligious site of Panj Tirath in the provincial capital as nationalheritage.
In a notification issued under the KP Antiquities Act 2016 on Wednesday,the Directorate of archaeology asked the KP government to clear the sitefrom encroachments and allow archaeologists to carryout out the much-neededpreservation work.
The directorate also recommended to the government to eliminate ChachaYounis Park which stands on one of the grounds of this ancient religioussite.
Panj Tirath, which got its name from the five pools of water present there,also contains a temple and a lawn with date palm trees. The five pools ofthe heritage site now come under the ambit of Chacha Yunus Park and KhyberPakhtunkhwa Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
It is believed that Pandu, a mythical king in the Mahabharata, belonged tothis area and Hindus used to come to these pools for bathing during themonth of Karteek and worship for two days under the trees.
The site was damaged during the reign of the Afghan Durrani dynasty in1747; however it was restored by local Hindus during the period of Sikhrule in 1834.
The Hindus in the city blame the government for failing to protect thesite. They believe that Hindu from the city and other parts of the provincewould bring their dead for cremation and it also served as the venue of anannual two-day festival, according to the Tribal News Network.
The KP government has also announced a fine of up to Rs2 million and fiveyears’ imprisonment for anyone found guilty of damaging the historic site.