Getting There
Gorkhatri is a public park in Peshawar, Pakistan, located within a Mughal-era caravanserai that was built at the site of ancient ruins. And it’s located at a distance of 184 km from Islamabad Motorway M-1
By roads: Khyber Pukhtankhwa (KP) is different province and cities of Pakistan by a large network of roads. You can reach KP by Bus, Car, Coaches, and Daewoo from different parts of the country. It is mainly connected with capital of Pakistan (Islamabad) by Motorway M-1 and Via National Highway.
By Train: You can also use the train from other parts of the country to reach Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Which can enter Khyber Pakhtunkhwa through different areas.
By Air: The nearest airport that can be used for air travel to Gorkhatri is Bacha Khan International Airport
What to Expect
Gor khatri is a fortified compound located on one of the top points in Peshawar city. It covers an area of more than 2500 square meters. There are two visible gateways with it. One is present in the East and the other in the West while you will find the Gorakh Temple in the center.
In 1917, a fire brigade building was built nearby. There are also many other sites and buildings in the west and south. Some notable excavations also took place here. The first one was conducted between 1992 and 1993. Yet, could not complete them because of insufficient funds. Later, in 2007 the new round of excavations took place. This concluded that Peshawar was one of the oldest cities in South Asia.
The Ghorkhatri is located in the heart of old Peshawar. It is home to huge deposits of historic periods of Indo-Greeks or even earlier. This may originally have been on the site of the mosque built by Jehan Ara Begum, but when the Sikhs occupied the site, they converted it into a Temple for the Hindu population of Peshawar.
History
Gor Khatri has established the citys historical profile and now Peshawar is officially claimed by Archaeology Department to be the Oldest Living City in South Asia, boasting a recorded history that goes back as far as at least 539 BC. Resumption of excavation at Gor Khatri would enrich the archaeological profile of Peshawar because we are hoping of discovering more evidences of life beyond the period from 4 to 6 century BC”
The excavation at Gor Khatri, which continued for four years and published in the British Journal Current World Archaeology with the title as the deepest and biggest excavation in the world revealed 20 layers that provide a complete profile of the city ranging from British down to the pre Indo-Greek era.
Facilities Available
As it is situated in the main city of Peshawar so many facilities are available for the tourists
- For an audio guide, you can ask about its history and other information from any of the locals there.
- Several big and small restaurants and hotels are situated in this bazar where every kind of daily use items can be purchased easily.
- All the mobile networks and other internet facilities are easily available.
- All type of transport is easily available in this area.
- People of the area are Multi-lingual so it’s easy for the tourist to communicate in any language including; Urdu, Pushto, English, Punjabi, and Persian.
- Lady Reading hospital is on walking distance from the Khyber bazar.
- There is a bus stand-in for public transportation.
- Filling stations are available which include Petrol and Diesel.
