Designs Crunch

Gurdwara Bhai Joga Singh a story of faith, memory and Peshawar’s shared heritage

Hidden within the old neighbourhoods of Peshawar, in Mohalla Jogan Shah near Namak Mandi, stands a place that tells a story far bigger than its walls: Gurdwara Bhai Joga Singh. Pakistan’s official Peshawar travel guide identifies it as one of the city’s old Sikh religious sites, placing it firmly within the historic fabric of the old city.

Its name is connected with Bhai Joga Singh, remembered in Sikh tradition as a young devotee of Guru Gobind Singh who came from Peshawar. According to Sikh historical tradition, Joga Singh was called back to his Guru while his wedding ceremony was still underway, and he left immediately—an episode remembered as a story of devotion and obedience. The gurdwara that bears his name later became part of Peshawar’s Sikh religious landscape. Secondary Sikh sources associate the present shrine with the Sikh period in Peshawar and with the era of Hari Singh Nalwa.

That matters because Peshawar has never been the story of only one community. For centuries, it has been shaped by Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus, traders, migrants, soldiers and travellers. Gurdwara Bhai Joga Singh is therefore important not only as a Sikh place of worship, but also as physical evidence of the city’s multi-faith and multi-cultural past. The province even had a dedicated Sikh Religious Endowment Act by 1944 to regulate Sikh gurdwaras and religious endowments, reflecting the long-established presence of Sikh institutions in the region.

After Partition, Peshawar’s Sikh population declined sharply and several Sikh religious sites were abandoned or reduced in use. Over time, however, Sikh community life in the city re-established itself, and Gurdwara Bhai Joga Singh became one of the key functioning gurdwaras associated with Peshawar’s Sikh community.

Its importance today is therefore deeper than architecture.

It represents faith that survived displacement.

It represents a community that remained connected to Peshawar.

It represents the religious diversity that once defined many neighbourhoods of the old city.

And most importantly, it reminds us that heritage preservation should not be selective. Preserving a mosque, temple, gurdwara, haveli or old bazaar is not about promoting one identity over another. It is about protecting the full historical record of a city.

When a Sikh visitor enters Gurdwara Bhai Joga Singh today, they are entering a place of worship. But when Peshawar preserves it, the city is preserving something broader: evidence that different communities helped build its social, architectural and cultural identity.

That is the real impact of places like this.

They turn history from something we read into something we can still stand inside.

Gurdwara Bhai Joga Singh, Peshawar
More than a shrine. A living reminder of faith, memory and shared history.

Preserving Peshawar’s shared heritage for future generations.

Sethi House a home that still remembers old Peshawar

In the heart of old Peshawar stands a house that is far more than brick, wood and walls.

Sethi House is a reminder of a time when Peshawar was not only a historic city, but also a thriving centre of trade, culture and craftsmanship. Built in the 19th century by the influential Sethi family, this mansion reflects the story of wealthy merchants whose business links stretched across the region and connected Peshawar with wider trade networks of Central and South Asia. Their home was designed not only for living, but for status, hospitality and beauty — and that is exactly what still speaks through it today.

Step inside, and Sethi House feels like entering another era. The carved wooden doors, richly detailed balconies, lattice work, spacious courtyards and decorated ceilings reveal the artistic skill of local craftsmen and the refined taste of the family that built it. Every corridor and every arch carries the atmosphere of old Peshawar a city where commerce, architecture and culture once moved together. This was not just a residence. It was a statement of prosperity, identity and urban elegance.

What makes Sethi House so important is that it tells a bigger story than one family alone. It represents the merchant history of Peshawar, the architectural brilliance of the old city, and the multicultural influences that shaped its urban life. In a time when many historic spaces are being forgotten, Sethi House reminds us that heritage is not only found in forts and monuments — sometimes it lives quietly inside homes that witnessed generations of life, trade and memory.

Today, preserving Sethi House means preserving a chapter of Peshawar’s soul. Because when such places disappear, we do not only lose buildings — we lose stories, craftsmanship, identity and connection to who we were.

Sethi House, Peshawar
More than a house. A home of memory, artistry and identity.
Preserve today, so future generations can still walk through history.

Qissa Khwani Bazaar — where Peshawar did not only trade goods, it traded stories.

Long before modern roads, phones and screens, there was a street in the heart of Peshawar where people gathered not only to buy and sell, but to listen, speak and remember. That street became known as Qissa Khwani Bazaar the Storytellers’ Market. The name comes from two words: “Qissa” meaning story, and “Khwani” meaning telling or reciting.

It earned this name because for centuries, traders, travelers, poets, caravan men and locals would stop here, sit together over qehwa, and share tales of distant lands, battles, love, trade routes and everyday life. As caravans moved through Peshawar from Central Asia, Afghanistan and the subcontinent, this bazaar became more than a market — it became a living stage of memory, conversation and culture. That is what made it special.

But Qissa Khwani Bazaar is not only about stories of trade and travel. It is also tied to the political and emotional history of the region. In 1930, the bazaar became the site of one of the most painful moments in the freedom movement, when unarmed protesters were fired upon by British forces in what became known as the Qissa Khwani Bazaar massacre. So this place carries both the warmth of human connection and the weight of sacrifice. It is a market of voices, but also a market of courage.

Even today, Qissa Khwani remains one of the most iconic places of old Peshawar. Its streets, shopfronts, old facades, tea houses and daily movement still carry echoes of the past. You can still imagine the travelers resting here, the storytellers drawing crowds, the merchants negotiating, and the city breathing through its oldest urban heart. That is why Qissa Khwani Bazaar matters. It is not just a bazaar. It is a memory of Peshawar itself a place where heritage, trade, conversation and identity still meet.

Preserving Qissa Khwani Bazaar means preserving the stories of a people.
More than a bazaar.
A meeting place of memory, culture and connection.

Bannu Mazdigarai — when the city itself becomes a celebration

There are some traditions that cannot be understood through a photograph alone.

You have to experience the sound, the movement, the people, the flowers, and the feeling.

Mazdigarai is one of those living traditions of Bannu.

As the day moves toward evening, especially around Asr time, people begin to gather. Young men, elders, families and friends come into the city, particularly around Chowk Bazaar, not simply to shop, but to meet, walk, celebrate and be part of something shared.

During the wedding season, the tradition becomes even more vibrant.

After the Walima, groups of people often move through the city together. Many wear jasmine garlands and floral necklaces, adding fragrance and colour to the streets. Traditional drums create the rhythm. Friends join one another. People smile, greet, walk and gather.

And then comes Attan.

The circle forms.

The drumbeat becomes stronger.

People move together.

For a few moments, age, profession and status matter less than the simple joy of being part of the community.

That is what makes Mazdigarai more than an evening walk.

It is a social tradition.

A public expression of belonging.

A way of celebrating weddings, friendship, youth, community and local identity.

It also reflects something deeper about Bannu: public spaces here are not only roads and bazaars. They are places where culture is performed, remembered and passed from one generation to another.

The jasmine seller is part of that story.

The drummer is part of that story.

The young men performing Attan are part of that story.

The elders watching from the side are part of that story.

And every person walking through Chowk Bazaar during Mazdigarai becomes part of the living heritage of Bannu.

Traditions like this survive not because they are written in books.

They survive because people continue to practice them.

Bannu Mazdigarai

More than a walk.

A celebration of joy, culture and connection.

Through this visual heritage campaign, Designs Crunch is documenting these everyday traditions so that future generations do not only know what Bannu looked like — but also understand how Bannu lived, celebrated and connected.

Same roots. Brighter futures.

Before Tanchi Bazaar became a name, there was the Tanchi.

In the middle of Bannu’s crowded streets stands a structure that many people pass every day without realizing how much of the city’s story it carries.

Nearly a century ago, in 1926, this elevated water tank was built as part of Bannu’s public water-supply system. Standing around 85 feet above the city and capable of holding approximately 100,000 gallons of water, it once helped supply water to the people of Bannu. Water travelled from the Kurram Garhi side through the Das Hazaar Canal and reached the tank through gravity an impressive engineering solution for its time.

Dawn
The tank became such a prominent landmark that the surrounding commercial area gradually became known by it:

Tanchi Bazaar.

For generations, the bazaar grew beneath its shadow.

Shops opened. Traders came and went. Families passed through its streets. Rickshaws replaced older modes of transport. Buildings changed. Businesses changed. Bannu expanded.
But the Tanchi remained.

Today, it is more than an old water tank.
It represents a period when Bannu was being transformed through roads, canals, civic infrastructure and new urban systems during the colonial era. That period left a complicated legacy, but its surviving structures are now part of the physical history of the city. Bannu itself developed substantially as a fortified and administrative centre during British rule.

The worrying part is that this heritage is fragile. Reports now describe leakage, deterioration and years of inadequate maintenance, while local citizens and historians have called for the tank to be protected and restored.

Dawn

So when we photograph Tanchi Bazaar, we should not only photograph the market.
We should document the engineering, people, memories and everyday life built around the landmark that gave the bazaar its name.

Because heritage is not only a fort, museum or archaeological ruin.
Sometimes heritage is an old water tank standing quietly above a crowded market—still reminding an entire city where its story came from.

Tanchi Bazaar, Bannu

People • Place • Memory • Heritage
Preserve today. Tell the story. Carry it forward.

Bannu’s Traditional Treasures — More Than Products, They Are Stories

There is a side of Bannu that cannot be understood by simply looking at a map. You have to taste it, touch it, smell it, and hear the stories behind it.

Walk through an old Bannu bazaar and you begin to understand. The aroma of Bannu Masala fills the air. A craftsman works patiently with Bannu leather, turning raw material into something meant to last for years. Somewhere nearby, families gather around a steaming plate of Bannu Beef Pulao, while Painda turns simple bread and rich broth into a meal built around sharing. Then comes the sweetness of Dilber Halwa—a taste many Bannuwals associate with home, hospitality and celebration.

And there are other traditions too: locally associated products such as Bannu’s traditional grain/flour preparations, shawls and Naswar that have travelled through generations and become intertwined with everyday cultural identity.

But here is what we often miss.

These aren't simply products. They are pieces of a living culture.

Behind every recipe is knowledge passed from one generation to another. Behind every handmade leather product is a craftsperson. Behind every traditional food is a family table. Behind every local product is a farmer, trader, shopkeeper or small business keeping part of Bannu's identity alive.

Yet traditions don't disappear only when people stop practising them.

They also disappear when we stop documenting, valuing and telling their stories.

That is the identity we want to reclaim through Designs Crunch — Living Pakistan.

Instead of asking only, “What is Bannu famous for?” perhaps we should ask:

What are we doing to ensure the next generation still knows why these traditions matter?

Because preserving heritage isn't only about protecting an ancient building or restoring an old gate. It is also about protecting our food, craftsmanship, local businesses, recipes, textiles, vocabulary and everyday traditions.

A plate of Pulao can carry history.
A leather artisan can carry generations of craftsmanship.
A traditional recipe can carry the memory of an entire community.

Bannu is more than a place. It is a collection of tastes, crafts, people and stories.

And those stories deserve to live.

Designs Crunch | Living Pakistan
Our Heritage. Our Stories. A Brighter Tomorrow.

Miryan Gate — A Doorway Into the Memory of Bannu

Imagine Bannu in another era.
As evening descended over the valley, traders returned from the bazaars, travellers hurried toward the city, and the entrances of old Bannu prepared to close for the night.

Around the city stood a defensive wall known locally as “Kot Di Baan.” Once its gates were closed, movement through them ceased until the city reopened.

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These gateways were not simply pieces of architecture. They connected the heart of Bannu with the villages, markets, roads and communities surrounding it.

Historical records identify eight principal gates of Bannu: Lakki Gate, Paraiti (Parady/Preedy) Gate, Qasabaan Gate, Mandan Gate, Sokari Gate, Hanjal Gate, Miryan Gate, and Railway Gate.

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Each carried a story of its own. Lakki Gate faced toward Lakki Marwat. Qasabaan Gate took its name from the butchers associated with the bazaar inside it. Mandan, Sokari and Miryan Gates were named for the villages toward which they faced. Railway Gate pointed toward Bannu's former railway station, while government historical material identifies Paraiti Gate with a British civil servant.

PMRU
And among them stood Miryan Gate.
For generations, people travelling between Miryan and the city would have crossed this threshold. Farmers, merchants, families and travellers passed between the world outside the wall and the busy streets within it.

The gate therefore represented something larger than an entrance.
It connected village to city, people to marketplace, and one generation of Bannu to another.

Today, much of Kot Di Baan and its gateways has disappeared. Government historical material says the wall and gates are now almost nonexistent, with remnants particularly associated with the Mandan, Miryan and Hanjal sides.

PMRU
But their names survived.

Lakki Gate.
Paraiti Gate.
Qasabaan Gate.
Mandan Gate.
Sokari Gate.
Hanjal Gate.
Miryan Gate.
Railway road Gate.

These names are fragments of an older Bannu still embedded in the geography and collective memory of the city.
Buildings can disappear. Walls can fall. Gates can be demolished.

But a place survives as long as its people continue telling its story.

That is the purpose of Designs Crunch — Living Pakistan: to rediscover the architecture, streets, crafts, traditions and forgotten stories that shaped our communities—and preserve them visually for the generations that come after us.

Miryan Gate isn't merely the story of an old gate.

It is one of eight doorways into the memory of Bannu.

Living Pakistan
Preserving Our Heritage. Designing Our Stories.

Before Bannu Was a Modern City, Akra Was Already Telling Its Story.

Imagine standing on an ordinary-looking mound outside Bannu.

There are no towering palaces today.
No royal gates.
No crowded ancient markets.

Just earth.

But beneath that earth are fragments of a story stretching back thousands of years.

This is Akra one of the most important archaeological landscapes of the Bannu Basin.

Archaeological research indicates that Akra grew rapidly from the beginning of the first millennium BCE, with evidence of connections reaching toward both Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Scholars consider the multi-mounded settlement likely to have served as an important regional centreand possibly Bannu's ancient capital for a remarkably long period.

Pakistan's Department of Archaeology and Museums dates the protected historic remains at Akra at least to the 6th–4th centuries BCE, associating this phase with the Achaemenid period. Pottery fragments, terracotta figurines, relief fragments and coins from later periods have also been recorded there. The site was formally declared protected in 1949 and today falls under Pakistan's antiquities protection framework.

Think about what that means.

More than 2,000 years ago, people were living, trading, creating, travelling and building communities on the same land we call Bannu today.

Generations came and disappeared.

Kingdoms rose and fell.

Languages changed.

Borders changed.

Yet the soil remembered.

And perhaps that is what makes Akra so powerful.

It reminds us that Bannu's identity did not begin with our generation.

We inherited it.

And inheritance brings responsibility.

If archaeological sites disappear, if traditional architecture is forgotten, if local crafts vanish, if elders' stories are never recorded and if younger generations grow up knowing everything about distant places but very little about their own land—

we don't simply lose old objects.

We lose pieces of ourselves.

That is why the Designs Crunch team is beginning this journey of visually documenting and celebrating the heritage, people, traditions and stories of Pakistan—starting with stories from places like Bannu that deserve to be seen far beyond their geographic boundaries.

Akra should not merely be a mound that people drive past.

It should make a child from Bannu ask:

“Who lived here before us?”

It should make a student research.

An artist create.

A photographer document.

A community preserve.

And a new generation become proud enough of its history to protect it.

Because development and heritage do not have to compete.

We can build tomorrow without erasing yesterday.

Today, we remember Akra.

Tomorrow, another forgotten place.

Another craft.

Another tradition.

Another story.

Until our collective memory becomes harder to lose.

Our Heritage. Our Stories. Our Tomorrow.

Preserve Today. Inspire Tomorrow. 🇵🇰

Team Designs Crunch

Our heritage is more than history. It is our identity. 🇵🇰

Every old street has a story.
Every traditional craft carries generations of knowledge.

Every monument holds memories.
Every community, language, dress, instrument, tradition and landscape represents a piece of who we are.
But with every passing generation, some of these stories become harder to find, remember and pass forward.
We believe creativity can help preserve them.

Starting today, the Designs Crunch team is launching a visual storytelling initiative dedicated to celebrating and preserving the people, places, cultures, traditions and untold stories of Pakistan.

DISCOVER PAKISTAN — A LAND OF STORIES
Through this campaign, we will use design, creativity and visual storytelling to document and creatively represent the heritage that connects us to our roots.
From famous landmarks to forgotten streets.

From centuries-old traditions to local artisans.

From indigenous craftsmanship to music, clothing, architecture, food and community stories.

Some may be widely known.
Others may come from a small village and have never been documented for the world to see.

Those are the stories we especially want to discover.

And we invite everyone to become part of this journey.

If your city, village or community has a heritage site, traditional craft, historic building, cultural practice, local personality, instrument, dress, artifact or story that deserves to be remembered, share it with us.

Together, we can build something bigger than a design campaign:
A growing visual archive of Pakistan's living heritage for the generations that come after us.

Because progress should take us forward without disconnecting us from where we came from.

Our Heritage. Our Stories. Our Tomorrow.
Preserve Today. Inspire Tomorrow. 🇵🇰
Team Designs Crunch

🌙 12 Rabi-ul-Awwal Mubarak 🌙

On this blessed occasion of 12 Rabi-ul-Awwal, Designs Crunch extends heartfelt wishes of peace, compassion, and unity to everyone.

May the timeless values of kindness, honesty, mercy, and service to humanity inspire the way we live, work, and contribute to the world around us.

✨ Eid Milad-un-Nabi ﷺ Mubarak

Designs Crunch
Designing Ideas. Creating Impact.

🌐 www.designscrunch.net
✉️ [email protected]