For every Lahori, this beautiful monument is a familiar structure and now lies in the middle of a thriving commercial area. Shops, restaurants and offices circle the intersection where Chauburji stands reminiscent of Princess Zeb-un-Nissa’s once grand and extensive gardens.
History:
Built around 1646 AD by Zebinda Begum or Princess Zeb-un-Nissa, daughter of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir, Chauburji’s current dilapidated state is not a new sight. Go to the Shalimar Gardens; Emperor Jahangir’s Tomb; Queen Noor Jahan’s Tomb, all these places were once crown jewels among the ‘City of Gardens’ i.e. Lahore’s green heavens and now there hardly is anything left in color there.
Chauburji or Chouburji was the grand entrance to a lovely Mughal garden on Multan Road in Lahore. The garden, which is no more, is said to have been laid out by Princess Zeb-un-Nisa Makhfi, daughter of Emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir and a recognized poetess of her time.
Princess Zebinda Begum or Zeb-un-Nisa:
Princess Zeb-un-Nisa is an intriguing figure. She never married, but legend has it that she fell in love with an Afghan soldier whom Aurangzeb had killed. Zeb-un-Nisa, or Zebinda Begum, as she is also known to historians, was a highly talented woman. She wrote poetry and took a deep interest in architecture. In 1646 she decided to have a beautiful garden laid out in Lahore.
Design:
The porcelain mosaic which decorates the walls, though most of it has been chipped away, is of high quality. The outer walls are brilliantly enamelled and decorated with blue and green encaustic tiles and frescoes of exquisite beauty. The motifs most used are those of willowy cypresses, bowls of fruit, and winding trellises. Originally, the gateway had four towers, as well as a central dome, but over the years the dome collapsed and one of the hexagonal towers crumbled away, leaving a truncated gateway with chipped enamel and four rooms within. From these, not just the frescoes but even the plaster vanished.
The uppermost part of the building has a passage from the Holy Quran inscribed on it in Arabic letters of blue colour worked in porcelain. At the end is written the year of its foundation, 1646 AD. Above the arch are inscribed the following verses in Persian: "This garden, on the pattern of the Garden of Paradise, has been founded. The garden has been bestowed on Mian Bai. By the bounty of Zebinda Begum, the lady of the age." On either side of the arches north and south of the middle arch is inscribed the word "God" in bl ue Arabic letters enclosed by a circle.
Meaning of Word Chauburji:
The gateway has recently been restored, and a roundabout has been constructed. The fourth tower has also been rebuilt, as without it the building would never have also been a Chauburji, which means "four minarets."
Minar-e-Pakistan is a tall minaret in Iqbal Park Lahore, built in commemoration of the Lahore Resolution. The minaret reflects a blend of Mughal and modern architecture, and is constructed on the site where on March 23, 1940, seven years before the formation of Pakistan, the Muslim League passed the Lahore Resolution (Qarardad-e-Lahore), demanding the creation of Pakistan. This was the first official declaration to establish a separate homeland for the Muslims living in the subcontinent. Pakistan now celebrates this day as a national holiday each year.
The monument attracts visitors from all over Pakistan, as well as the inhabitants of the Walled City of Lahore. The large public space around the monument is commonly used for political and public meetings, whereas Iqbal Park area is ever so popular among kite-flyovers.
Importance:
Minar-i-Pakistan is one of the most important national monuments of the country. The site where the Minar-e-Pakistan is built is the exact place where the historic Pakistan Resolution was passed in 1940. The Minar expresses the spirit of that movement. It is one of the few additions to a conglomeration of old monumental structures that are in Lahore that were mostly built by Mughals. The base of the structure takes the shape of a five point star and is enclosed within crescent shaped pools. The overall height is approximately sixty meters and the entire structure is constructed of rein forced concrete and furbished with stone and marble walls and floors.
Design:
The tower was designed by Naseer-ud-Deen Murat Khan a Pakistani architect of (Daghestan) Russian descent,and structural engineer was Abdur Rahman Khan Niazi. The design approved by the President was built by Mian Abdul Khaliq and Company.The foundation stonewas laid on March 23, 1960. The construction took eight years of time, and was completed in 1968. The Minar was completed on 31 October 1968 at an estimated cost of Rs. 7.5 million. The money was collected by imposing additional tax on the cinema and horse racing tickets. Today, the minaret provides a panoramic view to visitors who can climb up the stairs or through an elevator. The parks around the monument include marble fountains and an artificial lake.
Structure:
The base is about 8 meters above the ground. The tower rises about 60 meters on the base, thus the total height of minaret is about 72 meters above the ground. The unfolding petals of the flower-like base are 9 meters high. The diameter of the tower is about 97.5 meters (320 feet). The base platform is shaped like a five-pointed star and encloses two crescent shaped pools. There is a central spiral staircase rising up with 162 steps. The top-dome of the minaret is made of Stainless steel inlaid with fine glass pieces.
WHY we build it?
The structure is made of reinforced concrete,stones, and marble.The rostrum is built of patterned tiles, and faces the Badshahi Mosque.The base comprises four platforms. To symbolise humble beginnings of the freedom struggle, first platform is built with uncut Taxila stones, second platform is made of hammer-dressed stones, whereas third platform is of chiselled stones. Polished white marble at the fourth and final platform depicts the success of the Pakistan Movement . Mr. Mukhtar Masood a prolific writer and the then deputy commissioner of Lahore was responsible for the construction of this monument.
Cultural determinism may be all-embracing but it is not all-powerful. Men have imagination and creativity .They have personal will and, if they are not defeatist, they have inner freedom in the most enslaved circumstances. And it is not impertinent to say that they also have courage.
It is from the wellsprings of the past, with the freshness or its eternal waters that a nation drinks to revive its old and faltering heart. Monuments are a fountainhead of its reinvigoration, and they help supply nutrients to bind the sinews of National cohesion. They prove that a nation has heritage and history —and memory, and one without memory is without hope. The past is not merely a vanished tableau. It is the bedrock of the future.
A monument is less for the individual than for the collective psyche. That is why it usually stands not in a private sanctum but in public setting within the easy view of all. It is normally on high ground or platform, a source of pride and power, at once a shared spectacle and a shared experience. They represent heroes of Pakistan not only for its entire citizen but they stand equal of heroes in other lands. No challenge obtrudes on the universality of their cause except in the vainly disputations.
Founder of Pakistan said:
M A Jinnah, the Founding Father of Pakistan often said , is history continuous of struggle for freedom , freedom enjoyed , freedom lost , freedom regained , lost again , pursued again, regained , lost again.
Dr. Allama Iqbal said:
“It is by rising to a fresh vision of his origin and future, his whence and whither, that man will eventually triumph over a society motivated by inhuman competition and a civilisation which has lost its spiritual unity by its inner conflict of religions and political values.”
This unending pulsating rhythm of Pakistan freedom struggle has been the distinctive character of Pakistan’s’ national life for centuries, and in the withering process not a few larger-than-life heroes Pakistan have produced but many.
Allama Iqbal thought about human freedom:
Pakistan have suffered more miseries from the European invaders, Consumerism, imperialism and terrorism, they have been badly battered repeatedly, and culturally marinated. They have been occupied, but in the real sense Pakistan remained unvanquished. The foreign entities may destroy their monuments, but not the memory.
Pakistan heroes have been fighting for freedom. To them freedom is more important than life itself, the latter is nothing without the former. Because of this, Pakistan’s history hinges on the twin values of sacrifice and valour in the Islamic pursuit of freedom. Dr. Allama Iqbal, an ardent advocate of the concept of human freedom and evolution explains the concept of tawh?i?d beautifully when he says, “Reality is essentially spirit,” yet he qualifies his belief by mentioning that there are degrees of reality reflecting degrees of spirit. He writes:
Indeed the evolution of life shows that, though in the beginning the mental is dominated by the physical, the mental as it grows in power, tends to dominate the physical and may eventually rise to a position of complete independence…
Goals:
Life can be sacrificed for freedom, but freedom cannot be sacrificed for life. Every individual has the Goal and duty of safeguarding that freedom. Even if it causes him his life. ” the metaphysical ego is the bearer of two main rights that is the right to life and freedom as determined by Divine Law. ”Dr. Allama Iqbal, believed that behind the process of evolution is the vital impulse (Bergson’s elan vital) of ‘ishq or love which is metaphysical in nature and which makes life grow towards higher evolutionary GOALS.
It is love that imparts colour to the tulip
It is love that agitates our life.
If you could rip open the heart of the earth
You would see love’s blood coursing through it.
Beneath this visible evolution of forms is the force of love which actualises all strivings, movement and progress. Things are so constituted that they hate non-existence and love the joy of individuality in various forms. The indeterminate matter, dead in itself, assumes or more properly is made to assume by the inner force of love, various forms and rises higher and higher in the scale of beauty.
But this
“Forward push to life cannot be called creative unless hitched to some goal.”
Iqbal believed that evolution has a goal. “In fact, the evolution or dissolution of life is dependent on how far the individual chooses to use his or her creative will and power. The perfect man of Iqbal’s conception is of muja?hid, one who is ready and willing to face the problems of life, culture and society as he is to face the problems of after-life, spiritual welfare and death.”
The past has already lost print as its exclusive rendition. This century and the next, the printed world will give way to the electronic image. Communication will largely be in visual flashes rather than in syllables. Is the age of banality at hand? Will history become insipidity? It may become artless—or on the other hand acquire character of a new art form? Or it will still remain a sculptural perfection signifying human, freedom and Islam in the eyes of Allah and the rest of the world? Would the memory of Dr. Allama Iqbal,Quaid – i – Azam) Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the great men and women, will become relics in a strange epoch of new paradigms? Would arduous nationhood be a thing of the past and their parched sacrifices be regarded as crude baubles? Would the joys become outdated, the sorrows and sadness not even recalled in the consciousness of the future Pakistan?.
“Arise and soar with the suns new born rays.To breathe new life into dying nights and days.”
Karakoram Highway (KKH) – The Marvel of Civil Engineering:
A new all-weather road, the Karakoram Highway connecting Rawalpindi/Islamabad with China’s Xinjiang Province runs through the Northern Areas.
The Karakoram (the 'crumbling rock' in Turkish language) Highway is an incredible feat of engineering and an enduring monuments to the 810 Pakistanis and 82 Chinese who died forcing it through the world's most difficult and unstable terrain, making it possible to surface on earth the Eighth Wonder of the World. Karakoram Highway has a strategic importance that overarches the whole region. It forms the Asian 'high road' loop that binds Pakistan and China and can also serve as a link between China and the Central Asian states. In 2003, the Silver Jubilee celebrations (1978-2003) of the construction of the road were held both in Pakistan and China. Pakistan Post issued a Re. 2 special commemorative stamp on the occasion. However the road was officially opened on 27 August 1982.
The 1300 kilometres (800 miles) long KKH, or the N-5, originates from Hassan Abdal, a place some 45 kilometres from Islamabad on the Islamabad - Peshawar Highway, goes through Abbotabad, Manshera, crosses the River Indus at Thakot, on to Gilgit (through Besham, Pattan and Sazin) and then to Chilas, Hunza and Sost before crossing the Khunjerab Pass at the height of some 4800 metres (15,750ft) - the Zero Point between Pakistan and China. It then enters the high Central Asian plateau before winding down through the Pamirs to Kashgar, at the western edge of the Taklamakan Desert. It is a marvel of human endurance, ingenuity and determination. Both Pakistani and Chinese workers and engineers worked day and night over some of the most formidable and inaccessible mountain ranges of the world, with deep gorges and torrential Indus running along the track with its full might. The Indus River flows northwest, dividing the Himalaya from the Karakoram. The KKH runs along the Indus for 310 kilometres of its climb north, winding around the foot of Nanga Parbat, the ninth highest mountain in the world. Not far north of Jaglot the Gilgit river joins the Indus from the west. The highway then leaves the Indus for Gilgit, Hunza and Khunjrab rivers to take on the Karakoram Range - where 12 of the 30 highest mountains in the world overlook the KKH. At Khunjrab Pass, the KKH proudly stands as the highest metalled border crossing in the world. En route to Khunjrab, before Gilgit, there is a road sign inviting the attention of the tourists to stop and see the the Hindu Kush mountains converge with the Karakoram Range, a part of the Himalayan mountain system. While traveling along the KKH, many a tourists wonder as to how the Pakistanis and Chinese ever get this road through? Since the road has been carved through a tectonic collision zone and still generally kept open.
Karakoram Highway (KKH) – History:
China and Pakistan became long time strategic friends when President Ayub Khan of Pakistan visited China in 1964 and soon both great countries realized that a north - south link from China to the Arabian Sea can become a reality with the revival of the old “Silk Route”.
Silk Route - a fairy tale like travellers' dream route from Central Asia to the rest of the world; it existed as trade link between the East and the West around 100 BC and lasted until the 15th Century, when with the invention of ships, the trade became more cheaper and easier than the rugged mountains through which the Silk Route passed. Since mostly the traders from the West imported the Chinese silk, the route became to be known as the Silk Route. Besides trade, the route was also used by the explorers, invaders, missionaries and philosophers.. Buddhism, Islam and Christianity mainly came to this region through this trade linking route. The Zero Point of the route started from Xian in China through the great Gobi Desert to Dunhuang, where it bifurcated via Taklamakan Desert to Kashgar and through Yarkand to Kashgar. It is from Kashgar that it entered the subcontinent over the Pamirs and the Karakoram Mountains.
Keeping in view the importance of this route; in 1966, Pakistan and China agreed to construct the KKH - the Karakoram Highway. The KKH has opened up remote villages where little has changed in hundreds of years, where farmers irrigate tiny terraces to grow small patches of wheat, barely or maize that stand out like emeralds against the grey, stony mountains. One of the workers narrates an interesting anecdote about the remoteness of the area. When after lot of difficulties, a Pakistan Army jeep managed to reach a so far inaccessible village, a villager ran and brought a vase full of water and placed under the front of the jeep. When asked what he was doing, the villager innocently replied, "Sir, your animal must be thirsty."
Karakoram Highway (KKH) – Visit Plan:
Since the KKH passes through some of the most rugged mountain ranges, which become rather inaccessible during the snow falls and the rainy season, one should plan to travel on the KKH in the spring or early autumn. Heavy snow during harsh winters can shut the highway down for extended periods. Heavy monsoon rains, around July and August, cause occasional mudslides that can block the road for hours or more. The border crossing between China and Pakistan at Khunjrab Pass is open only between May 1 and October 15 of every year. These days, the trade between Pakistan and China thrives and Pakistani traders frequent the KKH very often to go to Kashgar and bring back cheap Chinese cloth, decoration pieces and electronics, which have flooded the Pakistani markets from Peshawar to Karachi.
The KKH is at its most spectacular between Ganesh and Gulmit. The road rides high on the eastern side of the river, twisting and turning round the barren foot of the Hispar Range, which boasts six peaks over 7,000 meters (23,000 feet). On the opposite bank, villages cling implausibly to the side of the 7,388 meter (24,240 foot) Ultar Mountain. Between the villages, grey screen slithers down to the river, looking in the distance like piles of find cigarette ash. Above, the jagged teeth along the ridge hide the highest snow-covered peaks from view. The KKH crosses back to the west bank at Shishkot Bridge, from which the view upstream of the serrated ridge of mountains above the river is one of the most photogenic prospects of the entire drive. From here to Tashkurgan in China the people speak Wakhi.
'Chand Raat' is considered to be the eve of Eid Moon or the night of the sighting of the new moon. The term Chand Raat refers to the evening on which first lunar crescent of the month of Shawwal is observed. It is celebrated as a very special occasion by Muslims all over the world. Chand Raat (pre-Eid night) is a multicultural Islamic celebration/event. Chand Raat which means 'night of the moon ' in the Urdu language marks the end of Ramadan and the start of Eid ul Fitr. Since the Islamic Calendar is lunar, Eid ul-Fitr is on the first of Shawwal - the tenth month of the Islamic year.
"Chand Raat" ... Markets and Bazaars:
On this special night, City streets, markets, shopping malls gives a look of a festival. They are decorated very brightly. Markets and shopping malls remain open till late night. This is the eve on which gifts are exchanged among friends, family and loved ones. People wear their best dresses to celebrate and enjoy this eve. Parents try their best to get the best clothes and Eid gifts for their children so that they can enjoy the full excitement of Eid day.
"Chand Raat" ... And Bangles (Churiyan):
Woman always inclined towards jewellery on special occasions like Eid and hardly imagine about Eid celebration without jewellery and makeup. Colourful and Bright Churiyan (bangles) lit the whole market with its beauty and vibrant colours.
People from all age groups can be seen in the markets buying Bangles for themselves or their loved ones. The tradition of buying bangles for Eid on the “Chand Raat” (The night before Eid) is still a much practiced Eid ritual.
The young girls would take to the markets on the night before Eid where they would buy colourful bangles and specially prepared ‘bangle sets’ to be worn on Eid Day. Bangles have been an integral part of a women’s life since her childhood in the subcontinent.
"Chand Raat" ... And Henna (Mehndi):
The latest type of henna (Mehndi) “glitter tattoos” and Bangles in different patterns and designs have hit the markets, as colourful henna tattoos with glossy appeal add magnificence to the Eid festivities.
Shiny bangles, jewellery, bright clothes with matching footwear are part and parcel of the Eid festivities but applying glittering henna on hands and feet bring real fun for the young girls on “Chand Raat”.
Now the henna tattoos are also available in markets and are easy to paste on hands and feet and can be removed easily. The young girls admire henna tattoos associated with celebrations of Eid specifically.
