Peshawar: The regional Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government in northwest Pakistan has declared Panj Tirath, an ancient Hindu religious site in Peshawar as national heritage.
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 of the heritage site now come under the scope of Chacha Yunus Park and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The KP Directorate of Archaeology and Museums issued a notification under the KP Antiquities Act 2016 declaring the land in the Panj Tirath Park as a heritage site.
It is believed that Pandu, a mythical king in the Mahabharata, belonged to this area and Hindus used to come to these pools for bathing during the month of Kartika and worship there for two days, under the trees.
The site was damaged during the reign of the Afghan Durrani dynasty in 1747. However, it was restored by local Hindus during the period of Sikh rule in 1834 and worship started again.