A Pakistani court on Friday summoned a top government official while hearing a petition related to a land demarcation case involving a family park and the historic Hindu shrine Panj Tirath.
Panj Tirath was declared a national heritage in 2019 by the provincial Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government in northwestern Pakistan.
The Panj Tirath which got its name from the five water pools- present there with two temples and a gateway, is in a dilapidated condition and needs archaeological conservation.
Most of its land is owned by the Chacha Yunus Family Park, while the buildings are being used as warehouses by the park’s owner. A two-member bench of the Peshawar High Court heard arguments in the case on Thursday and summoned the Deputy Commissioner of Peshawar City.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Director of Archeology Abdus Samad Khan, Additional Advocate General Sikandar Hayat Shah and officials of the Auqaf Department appeared in the court.
Samad told the court that his department had held several meetings with the Auqaf department and the park administration.
what is the real issue
He said that while some problems related to the matter have been resolved, the issue of land demarcation remains unresolved.
As per government records, the total area covered by the Panj Tirath is approximately 14 kanals (1.75 acres) and seven marlas (0.04 acres).
However, a large portion is now part of the Chacha Yunus Family Park, which is leased out by the district government.
There used to be five pools of religious places here.
Samad told the court, “The park administration wanted to give only one kanal (0.125 acres) and 11 marlas to the archeology department, whereas our archaeological site comprises 5 kanals (0.625 acres) and 11 marlas (0.06 acres).”
The official said the park administration did not allow the officials to enter the temple through the park.
“We need more time to resolve other problems related to land demarcation between the park and the archaeological site, which houses the Panj Tirath temple,” said the Auqaf department official.
Panj Tirath was an important Hindu pilgrimage site in Peshawar before 1947. Archaeologist SM Jafar wrote in his book ‘An Introduction to Peshawar’ published in 1952 that, “The Panj-tirtha (five tanks) is one of the places of interest and antiquity. In or around Peshawar, dating back to the Buddhist period. Archaeologists believe the Panj Tirath has traces of Buddha’s begging bowl,” according to a 2019 report in the Friday Times newspaper.
mahabharat connection
It is believed that Pandu, a legendary king in the Mahabharata, belonged to this region and used to come during the Hindu month of Kartik (between 23 October and 21 November) to bathe in these pools and worship under the trees for two days. Used to do
The site was damaged during the reign of the Afghan Durrani dynasty in 1747 and restored by local Hindus during the period of Sikh rule in 1834 and worship resumed.
The Directorate of Archeology has asked the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to vacate the site of encroachment and allow archaeologists to carry out much-needed conservation work. Along with this, there has also been a demand to build a boundary wall around the site.
(with PTI inputs)
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