Governor House KP to serve as extension of Peshawar Museum

[ghazi52]

Governor House KP to serve as extension of Peshawar Museum

PESHAWAR: The Governor House of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will be used as an extension of Peshawar Museum to display more than 30,000 relics that are presently in store with the archaeology department of the province.

According to sources in the archaeology department, the decision has been taken following Education Minister Shafqat Mehmood’s announcement of using official buildings across the country as galleries, museums and educational institutes.

The sources said that KP Governor House could be used best as an extension of Peshawar Museum so that space is created there to display more of collection from Gandhara civilisation, which has been lying in the basement of the museum since decades.

With its vast collection of the ancient days, Peshawar Museum is known as the place in the world with the biggest collection from Gandhara civilisation.

Sources further said space would be created by shifting manuscripts other relics from the Sikh and British eras from Peshawar Museum to the Governor House.

This way, the Governor House museum would display the diverse history of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and its tribal areas while Peshawar Museum would be dedicated for the collection of Gandhara civilisation.

In the present interior of Governor House KP, there is a fine display of items and souvenirs that speak about the history of the province.

Inside the building, one can see portraits of former administrators, old photographs, oil paintings, antique furniture, animal hide, trophies – nearly everything that is reminiscent of the rich history of a bygone era.

 

[khanasifm]

[emoji106] excellent

 

[ghazi52]

Established in the Grand Victoria Memorial Hall in 1906, the Peshawar Museum is famous the world over for housing a unique & rare collection of Gandhara Sculptures, coins, epigraphs & other antiquities recovered from the excavation of ancient sites located in the Peshawar Valley, a region known as Gandhara in the past. The Museum also contains a variety of ethnological & Islamic collection which includes miniature paintings of the Mughal & Rajpoot studios, specimens of calligraphy, manuscript and hand written Quran, ethnological & cultural material, dresses, arms & Jewelry of different tribes of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.The Gandharan artifacts are the exclusive trait of the Peshawar Museum which speak the past glory of the Peshawar Valley. Gandhara was at the Crossroad of Civilizations Buddhism crossed the throshald of Gandhara due to the missionary activities of Mauryan King Ashoka(272-37 Bc) who after adopting Buddhism as his new faith used all his imperial resources to propagate & promote it. A Buddhist saint & scholar Madhyantika was deputed to Gandhara to preach the gospel of this religion to the Gandharans. Buddhism remained a dominant religion in Gandhara till the middles of 5th century A.C. During this period Gandhara was ruled over successfully by the Indo- Greeks, Sethian, Parthians & Kushans who left indelible impression of their art & culture on the local culture. The art of Gandhara was infact the dynastic art of the Kushans. The region of Kushana king Kanishka (1st Centenary A.D) was the golden age for the expansion of Buddhism. Under his royal patronage, Buddhism became a progressive & leading religion of the world. It was his reign that the archaic Buddhism was replaced with a liberal & progressive Mahayana School in Gandhara. In the new school his human image was evolved, carved out in large number & placed in sacred religious buildings for warship purpose. Gandhara was known as the second holy land & its fame reached to distant lands. This was the genesis of Gandhara Art which is also known as Greco- Buddhist Art & Romano Buddhist Art as it was deeply influenced by the Greek & Roman Motifs.