PESHAWAR, Feb 8: About 50 students of two selected girl schools of Charsadda visited Gor Khutree and other heritage and historical sites of Peshawar as part of Cultural Heritage Awareness Programme.

This was the second such visit of students to heritage sites arranged under the Youth Tourism Programme (YTP) of Tourism Corporation Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Directorate of Archaeology, according to a TCKP press release here on Friday.

The programme began at Rajjar High School, Charsadda, where Zahoor Durrani, the YTP coordinator, briefed the students about significance of this tour.

He said that an essay competition among the touring students would be held soon in which they would write about their day spent at the heritage sites.

He said that the best essay winner would be given scholarship for further studies. The students visited the museum, mosque and old Hindu temple in Gor Khutree, Sethi House, Islamia College and the Peshawar Museum and got first-hand knowledge about these sites.

Director archaeology Dr Shah Nazar told the students that Charsadda was also an important historical place and previously remained the capital of Ghandhara. He said that Gor Khutree was the Governor’s House during Sikhs rule in the area. He said that King Shah Jahan’s daughter opened this area to public during her father’s reign and since then it was the greatest tourist spot of all times in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Dr Nazar told the students that they were the first local visitors to Sethi House, an old house in Peshawar city, after it was renovated and opened to public last week.

The teachers accompanying the students praised the tour programme arranged by the government and said that this was the best way to teach the students about their history and heritage.—Bureau Report