NEW PESHAWAR
Over the other side of Jail Bridge, the new modern Peshawar, the Cantonment Area is quite different from the Old City, with wide streets, parks and gardens and trees painted white by Armed services. Like all cantonments in the subcontinent, it was originally constructed by the administration.
The Peshawar "Saddar"
(Cantonment) is a spaciously laid out neat and clean township
with avenues of tall old trees, broad tarred roads, large [Old Peshawar] [Trip
From Peshawar] single storeyed houses with large lawns, and a pervading scent of
rare shrubs and flowers that is Peshawar's own. In the Sadder is the splendid
Governor's House, modern hotels, the old missionary Edwardes College, the richly
stocked Museum, a fine shopping area and right in the middle is the Tourist
Information Centre at Dean's Hotel.
The heart of the Sadder is the Khalid bin Walid (Company) Bagh which is an old Mughal Garden. Its huge ancient trees and gorgeous big roses are a sight to remember. Two other splendid old gardens are the Shahi Bagh in the northeast and the Wazir Bagh in the south-east, all of which give the character of a garden city to Peshawar.
The Peshawar of the hoary past is the old city, the Peshawar of the British period (1849-1947) is the Cantonment but the Peshawar of independent Pakistan is the vast extension of the city west and east.
Peshawar Museum, formerly Victoria Memorial Hall, is situated between Deans Hotel and the Old city, about five minutes walk from Jail Bridge and the Railway station. The museum was built in 1905.
Its long hall, flanked by side galleries and with a raised platform at the end opposite the door, was the ballroom. The museum, open 8.30 am to 12.30 pm and 2.30 to 5 pm in summer, 9 am to 4 pm in winter, closed on Wednesday, has one of Pakistan's best collections of Gandharan art, and the pieces are well arranged and labelled. with sculptures illustrating the life. of the Buddha placed in chronological order. The fasting Buddha here is even more haunting than the one in Lahore Museum. The ethnological section, the Hall of Tribes, has wooden carvings from the Kalash people in Chitral. There is also a Muslim Gallery, displays Islamic treasure and also displays the trible handicrafts. The Peshawar Club, on Sir Syed Road near The Mall, is the former contonment club house. As in the past, its recruitment policy is still extremely exclusive, is reserved for members and their guests, but anyone can go in to look around and browse in the library. There is a reciprocal arrangement for temporary membership with the Rawalpindi, Quetta and Karachi clubs. The swimming pool is surrounded by large shade trees. The morning session reserved for women. A shamiana curtains off the ladies till noon, behind which swim women in purdah. Bells ring loudly just before noon to warn the ladies that they are about to be exposed.
Trips from Peshawar: The Khyber Pass, Gandhara, Swat
Profile, History, Hotels, Education, Old Peshawar, New Peshawar, Map
Pashto Dictionary: A, B, D, E, F, G, H, I, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, W, Y, Z
Copyright © prpakistan. All rights reserved.