Pandora's Box: Jinaay Lahore nahee wakhaiaya - Aabi Asif

Hey people!

I will start my travelogue from the land of Punjab. Punjab is a derivative and is made up of two words “Punj” and “aab”; Punj meaning five and aab meaning water; thus it is the land of five rivers.

There is this famous saying : jinnay nay Lahore naee wakhaiay oh jamia nahee;
Translated: He who hasn’t seen Lahore hasn’t lived his life!

Lahore is considered to be the land of people who know how to live and enjoy life!!!

Lahore is the second largest city of and provincial capital of Punjab. Legend has that it was founded by two sons of Lord Rama about 4000 years ago. Historically it has been proved that Lahore is about 2000 years old. Hieun-tsang, the famous Chinese pilgrim, has given a vivid description of Lahore city which he visited in the early parts of the seventh century A.D.

Legend has that it was founded by two sons of Lord Rama about 4000 years ago. Historically it has been proved that Lahore is about 2000 years old. Hieun-tsang, the famous Chinese pilgrim, has given a vivid description of Lahore city which he visited in the early parts of the seventh century A.D.

For 200 years, beginning from about 1525 A.D., Lahore was a thriving cultural center of the great Mughal Empire. Mughal Emperors beautified Lahore with palaces, gardens and mosques. During the British regime many monuments sprang up in Lahore which blended beautifully with the Mughal, Gothic and Victorian styles of architecture.

Historical Monuments:
Lahore is filled with beautiful architecture that constitute our history. Some of them worth visiting are:

The first and foremost is: Minar-e-Pakistan. Minar-e-Pakistan is the monument that was built in Manto Park where in 1940, the resolution was passed. It is in memory of the event of the 23rd March where the ideology of Pakistan was presented.

Right behind Minar-e-Pakistan is the Royal Fort of Lahore. Although most parts of the Royal Fort were constructed around 1566 A.D. by the Mughal Emperor, Akbar the great, there is evidence that a mud fort was in existence here in 1021 A.D. as well, when Mahmood of Ghazna invaded this area. Akbar demolished the old mud fort and constructed most of the modern Fort, as we see it today, on the old foundations. Construction of the fort dates back to the early Hindu period.

Badshahi Mosque is another one of the Mughal creations The emperor or the Badshahi Mosque is across the courtyard from Alamgiri Gate of the Lahore Fort. The Mosque which is made up entirely of sand-stone was built by Emperor Aurangzeb, the last of the great Mughals, in a record time of the two and-a-half years. Its construction was completed by 1674 A.D
Outside the Badshahi mosque, near its steps, lies the tomb of Allama Iqbal, the poet-philosopher of the East. The mausoleum is a mixture of Afghan and Moorish style of architecture and is constructed entirely of red sandstone which was quarried and brought from Rajasthan.
So if you are ever there in Lahore make it a point to visit these places; its worth going to to get in touch with the history again :)

More about Lahore next week; this is Aabi signing off for now.
Have fun!