Goraknath Temple

Goraknath Temple is a Hindu temple located in the Gorkhatri area of Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The temple is dedicated to Guru Gorakhnath who founded the kanphata Jogi order at Tilla Jogian in the first century BC. The temple was built in 1851.

History
Goraknath Temple is one of the few surviving Hindu temples in Peshawar, along with Kalibari Mandir and Dargah Pir Ratan Nath Jee, Jhanda Bazaar. The Peshawar High court ordered the Evacuee Trust Property Board to open this temple (or mandir) as a result of the petition filing by the daughter of the temple priest. It may have been constructed during the rule of the governor Avitabile during the years 1838–1842, but an earlier dating of between 1823–1830 has also been suggested for its date of erection. The Gor Khatri temple is divided into two areas on a west-east axis: the eastern versus western shrines, which are connected by a chamber.

Following the reopening of the temple, it was attacked three times in the following two months. In the third such attack, the attackers burnt the pictures of gods inside the temple and took away the idols, the Statuette of Lord Shiva was smashed to pieces and the holy Gita was burnt down.