Pakistan Government To Buy Ancestral House Of Raj Kapoor to Turn into National Heritage

Veteran actor Dilip Kumar's over 100-year-old ancestral house is also located in Peshawar's Qissa Khawani Bazaar




Kapoor Haveli in Qissa Khwani Bazar in Peshawar (Image Courtesy: Social Media)

The provincial government in Pakistan’s Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa plans to buy 25 pre-partition era buildings, including the ancestral houses of legendary Bollywood actors Raj Kapoor. Kapoor’s ancestoral house has been declared as the national heritage, the sources said.

Raj Kapoor’s ancestral home, known as Kapoor Haveli, is situated in the fabled Qissa Khwani Bazar. It was built before the Partition of British India, between 1918 and 1922, by the legendary actor’s grandfather Dewan Basheswarnath Kapoor.

Raj Kapoor and his uncle Trilok Kapoor were born in the building. It has been declared national heritage by the provincial government.

Veteran actor Dilip Kumar’s over 100-year-old ancestral house is also located in Peshawar’s Qissa Khawani Bazaar. The house which is in shambles was declared as national heritage under the Federal Antiquities Act in 2014 by the Nawaz Sharif government.

According to media reports, the provincial government has allocated Rs. 61 crore for buying 25 pre-partition era buildings, having archaeological importance, including the ancestral houses of actors Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar.

The Department of Archaeology will be given a grant of Rs. 70 lakh to prepare a feasibility report of the buildings during the current fiscal.

After the approval of feasibility report, the process to buy these buildings will begin.

There are as many as 77 buildings which have been declared as national heritage by the government of which 52 are government property while 25 are owned by locals.

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