World Lone Ghandhara Art Museum At Peshawar Impresses Russian Ambassador

Peshawar Museum, the world's lone Ghandhara art museum has highly impressed the Russian Ambassador after seeing its rare 30,000 collection of antiquities and artifacts

PESHAWAR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 30th Oct, 2023) Peshawar Museum, the world's lone Ghandhara art museum has highly impressed the Russian Ambassador after seeing its rare 30,000 collection of antiquities and artifacts.

Russian Ambassador, Danila Ganich visited the historic Peshawar Museum where he admired an impressive collection of the Ghandhara art.

He went around different galleries of the museum where he was briefed by the authorities of the archaeology and museum department.

Established in the heart of Peshawar some 150 years back on Sher Shah Suri Road, the Peshawar Museum having a unique treasure of 30,000 antiquities of Gandara civilisation was attracting international tourists and followers of Buddhism in droves following the completion of renovation work that magnified its architectural outlook.

Being the lone museum of Gandhara Art in the world having a complete life story of the Founder of Buddhism, Lord Buddha, Peshawar Museum has become an international centre for Gandhara Art lovers after the completion of expansion, renovation and preservation work under Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Integrated Tourism Project (KITE).

Bakhtzada Khan, Spokesperson Archeology and Museums Department told APP that conservation work on the Peshawar Museum was initiated under the umbrella project of KITE with the assistance of the World Bank to bring it at par with international standards and enhance its architectural value.

Peshawar Museum has a unique distinction of housing more than 30,000 antiquities out of which 14,000 are put on display for tourists, archaeologists, and followers of Buddhism and the rest are kept preserved.

The complete life story of Founder of Buddhism, Lord Buddha was kept preserved here in the forms of statues and panels, attracting followers of Buddhism and international tourists throughout the year.

Besides ancient dresses of Waziristan tribes, primitive cooking plates and jewellery, he said it is the only museum in south Asia where muzzleloader guns mostly used by the British Army and Swords of freedom fighters, kings, warriors and punch-marked coins were displayed.

Most of these antiquities were adorned with museums in the colonial period attracting foreign tourists including those from Europe, Thailand, Nepal, Sri Lanka, China, Japan, Turkiye, Malaysia, SAARC and South East countries.

He said about 6,000 archaeological sites have been discovered in KP and important antiques collected from these sites were also preserved at Peshawar Museum.

Peshawar Museum was started as Victoria Hall in 1896 initially used as Dancing Club and was later converted into a full-fledged Museum in 1906.

The present main hall of the museum was built in 1906 in memory of Queen Victoria at the cost of Rs 60,000, out of which Rs 45,000 were donated by the public of the NWFP (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) and Rs15,000 by the Director General of the Archaeology of that time, he said.

Following the completion of the building, the museum was set up in November 1907 to house Gandhara sculptures excavated from major Gandhara sites of Shah-Ji-Ki-Dheri Peshawar, Sahri Bahlol, Takht-i-Bahi in Mardan district, from Jamal Garhi and other Gandharan sites excavated by British archaeologists.

The two-storey building, an amalgamation of the British and Mughal architectures, originally consisted of a main hall and two side aisles on the ground and first floor, surmounted by four elegant cupolas and small pinnacles on all corners. On the eastern and western sides of the building, two halls were added in a similar fashion in 1969-70.

After its inception in 1907, the Peshawar Museum was run by the Peshawar Municipality and the Superintendent of the Archaeological Survey of that time, Frontier Circle was the Curator of the Museum when Frontier Circle Office was shifted to Lahore in 1927, a full-time Curator was appointed under the provincial government.

Following the independence of Pakistan, the Museum came under the direct control of the Director of Public Instructions (DPI), government of NWFP (KP) Peshawar In 1971 and an autonomous body, the Board of Governors, was constituted to run affairs of the Museum, headed first by Governor and later by the Chief Secretary, Government of NWFP (KP).

In 1992, the government of NWFP (KP) established its own Directorate of Archaeology and Museums to ensure better protection and preservation of the archaeological heritage of the province and today Peshawar Museum is working under the Sports and Tourism Department KP.

He said construction work on two new museums was completed in DI Khan and Abbottabad where ancient antiquities, artefacts, coins and statues would soon be put on display for the general public, adding two more museums are being constructed in Kohat and Haripur.

Following inauguration of these four new museums, he said the number of Museums would reach to 16 in KP where three Museums were already established in Peshawar, one each at Charsadda, Mardan, Lower Dir, Swat, Bannu and two in Chitral.

A modern museum has been constructed at Hund Swabi district near historical site from where Alexander the Great had crossed Indus River in 327 BC. Hund is also famous for Mehmood Ghaznavi’s invasion in 998, marking beginning of Islamic era in the region.

A survey for exploration of new historical archaeological sites is underway in the province including merged areas where 91 more sites discovered including Bazeera, Amlook Dara and Abba Saib Cheena in Swat and excavation was started.

Directorate of Archeology and Museums has made remarkable discovery unearthing 2,000 years old Bhuddists fresco paintings found fist century AD coins and three fresco paintings at Abba Saib Cheena Swat. These paintings are one of the earliest Buddhist fresco so far discovered in ancient Gandhara.

The spokesman said buildings and places of archeological importance was being purchased besides excavation, conservation and protection of archeological sites.

The Russian ambassador lauded the dedicated efforts of Directorate of Archaeology & Museums, KP in preserving this rich cultural heritage of Pakistan.

APP/fam