Pushkalavati Museum also known as Charsadda Museum established in 2006, located in

Charsadda Chārsadda ( ps, چارسده; ; ur, ; ) is a town and headquarters of Charsadda District, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

History

Pushkalavati Pushkalavati ( ps, پشکلاوتي; Urdu: ; Sanskrit: ; Prākrit: ; grc, Πευκελαῶτις ) or Pushkaravati (Sanskrit: ; Pāli: ), and later Shaikhan Dheri ( ps, شېخان ډېرۍ; ur, ), was the capital of the Gandhara kingdom, ...

was the first capital of

Gandhara Gandhāra is the name of an ancient region located in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, more precisely in present-day north-west Pakistan and parts of south-east Afghanistan. The region centered around the Peshawar Vall ...

from 6th to 1st century BC and the former name of Charsadda District, which is situated 30 km to the northeast of

Peshawar District Peshawar District ( ps, پېښور ولسوالۍ, hnd, , ur, ) is a district in Peshawar Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. It is located about 160 km west of the Pakistan's capital Islamabad. The district headquarter is ...

. Remainder of Pushkalavati can be seen around the site of Balahisar. The city goddess was also called Pushkalwati. The term Pushkalavati (Sanskrit) is a combination of two

Prakrit The Prakrits (; sa, prākṛta; psu, 𑀧𑀸𑀉𑀤, ; pka, ) are a group of vernacular Middle Indo-Aryan languages that were used in the Indian subcontinent from around the 3rd century BCE to the 8th century CE. The term Prakrit is usu ...

words ''Pushkara or Pushkala'' which mean '' lotus'' (a type of flower) and 'wati or vati', mean ''city'' so Pushkalavati mean that the ''Lotus City''. The lotus flower, which also represented

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

in primitive sect, is still grown in

Charsadda Chārsadda ( ps, چارسده; ; ur, ; ) is a town and headquarters of Charsadda District, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.

area which is a very fertile and the city had around ponds full of lotus flowers. The Syama Jataka also took place. The legendary Hariti Devi and Panchika were born here and converted to

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

. In 1958 "S.M. Wheeler" exposed the remains of two cities at Bala Hisar and from 1962 to 1963 Dr.

Ahmad Hasan Dani Ahmad Hassan Dani (Urdu: احمد حسن دانی) FRAS, SI, HI (20 June 1920 – 26 January 2009) was a Pakistani archaeologist, historian, and linguist. He was among the foremost authorities on Central Asian and South Asian archaeology ...

exposed the Sheikhan Dheri. These two sites are present opposite to each other and located on the banks of

River Jindi The River Jindi, also known as ''Kot'' and ''Manzari Baba'', begins in the hills of Malakand Agency, in the northern district of Charsadda, in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. During the early months of each year, the River Jindi has a very limited ...

(a feeder of River Swat).

Ghani Dheri (Charsadda)

Ghani Dheri is located about 4 km northeast of Charsadda Town. Ghani Dheri is named after the famous poet, artist, philosopher and legend of Pathan culture

Khan Abdul Ghani Khan , image = Khan Abdul Ghani Khan 1940s.jpg , image_size = 250px , caption = Khan in the 1940s , birth_date = , birth_place = Hashtnagar, North-West Frontier Province, British India, now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan , death_date = , dea ...

(better known Ghani Khan), the son of

Bacha Khan Abdul Ghaffār Khān (; 6 February 1890 – 20 January 1988), also known as Bacha Khan () or Badshah Khan (), and honourably addressed as Fakhr-e-Afghan (), was a Pakistani Pashtuns, Pashtun, List of Indian independence activists, independence ...

(real name Abdul Ghafar Khan was a legendary freedom fighter and politician).

Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa The Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ( ur, ; ps, د خیبر پښتونخوا حکومت), is the provincial government of the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Its powers and structure are set out in the provisions of the 1973 Consti ...

built a hall in 2001 consisting of a Mushaira Hall and a Library at the site to honour and in the memory of

. The Mushaira Hall is decorated with the paintings and poetry of Khan Abdul Ghani Khan. The Library composed of two divisions one for the specialized books on Ghani Khan and other for the general books. And later the Pushkalavati Museums of Archaeology and Ethnology has been built in 2006.

References

External links

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{{Museums in Pakistan 2006 establishments in Pakistan Art museums and galleries in Pakistan History museums in Pakistan Museums established in 2006 Museums in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Charsadda District, Pakistan

History

Ghani Dheri (Charsadda)

See also

References

External links