press releases
NWFP Secretary Of Culture Thanks U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker For Support In The Restoration Of Peshawar’s Gor Khuttree Complex
10/05/2006
Peshawar - The NWFP Secretary of Sports, Culture, Tourism, and Museums, Mr. Abdul Jalil Khan, expressed his appreciation to Ambassador Ryan Crocker for U.S. support in the restoration of the Gor Khuttree Complex during a ceremony held at the Peshawar Museum. Through the Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation, the United States is providing $35,000 to help conserve and restore the site, a magnificent part of Pakistan and Peshawar’s cultural heritage. Specifically, the project will help restore and preserve the historic glory of the ancient cells of the northern half of the complex.
The site has been considered holy for more than 2,000 years. More than 2,000 years ago the original site was home to ancient Buddhist and Hindu shrines. In the time of the Mughals, Shah Jehan’s daughter built a mosque on the site and surrounded it with a caravanserai, the famous Serai Jehanabad. The gateway at Gor Khuttree is among the finest examples of Mughal architecture anywhere. And an important Sikh temple is located at Gor Khuttree from still later times.
Funding for this important project comes from a U.S. State Department program, "The U.S. Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation." Created by the U.S. Congress in 2001 as a sign of American respect for other cultures and traditions, the program supports projects around the world in preserving museum collections, ancient and historic sites, and traditional forms of expression. Over the past six years, the Fund has awarded 379 preservation grants in 108 countries.
Since the U.S. "Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation" began five years ago, the U.S. has funded seven separate projects in Pakistan. In addition to Gor Khuttree, the U.S. has supported the preservation of the Mosque Mohabat Khan in Peshawar, the 16th century Rohtas Fort near Islamabad, the bazaar area near the Wazir Khan Mosque in Lahore, the ancient monastery site at Taxila, the ruins of Sirkap at Taxila, and the Alamgiri Gate at the Lahore Fort.