The Shalimar Gardens (Urdu: شالیمار باغ)

The Shalimar Gardens (Urdu: شالیمار باغ), sometimes written Shalamar Gardens, is a Persian garden and it was built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in Lahore, modern day Pakistan. Construction began in 1641 A.D. (1051 A.H.) and was completed the following year. The project management was carried out under the superintendence of Khalilullah Khan, a noble of Shah Jahan's court, in cooperation with Ali Mardan Khan and Mulla Alaul Maulk Tuni.

Shah Nahar : Irrigation of the Gardens An example of a Mughal gardenBlueprint of Shalimar Bagh, Lahore To irrigate the Gardens, a canal named Shah Nahar meaning Royal canal, later also known as Hansti nahar, meaning Laughing canal was brought from Rajpot (present day Madhpur in India), a distance of over 161 kilometers. The canal intersected the Gardens and discharged into a large marble basin in the middle terrace.

410 Fountains

From this basin, and from the canal, rise 410 fountains, which discharge into wide marble pools. The surrounding area is rendered cooler by the flowing of the fountains, which is a particular relief for visitors during Lahore's blistering summers, with temperature sometimes exceeding 120 degrees fahrenheit. It is a credit to the ingenuity of the Mughal engineers that even today scientists are unable to fathom how the fountains were operated originally. The distribution of the fountains is as follows:
The upper level terrace has 105 fountains.
The middle level terrace has 152 fountains.
The lower level terrace has 153 fountains.
All combined, the Gardens therefore have 410 fountains.



Water cascades
The Gardens have 5 water cascades including the great marble cascade and Sawan Bhadoon

Wazir Khan Mosque in Lahore

The Wazir Khan Mosque in Lahore, Pakistan, is famous for its extensive faience tile work. It has been described as ' a mole on the cheek of Lahore'. It was built in seven years, starting around 1634-1635 A.D., during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan. It was built by Shaikh Ilm-ud-din Ansari, a native of Chiniot, who rose to be the court physician to Shah Jahan and later, the Governor of Lahore. He was commonly known as Wazir Khan. (The word wazir means 'minister' in Urdu language.) The mosque is located inside the Inner City and is easiest accessed from Delhi Gate.

In his published notes, F H Andrews, former Principal of the Mayo School of Arts, describes the mosque thus: 'The material used in the construction of the Mosque is a small tile-like brick universally used by the Mughals when stone was unusable or too costly. The only stone used in the building is used for brackets and some of the fretwork (pinjra). The walls were coated with plaster (chunam) and faced with a finely-soft quality of the same material tooled to a marble-like surface and coloured. All the external plasterwork was richly coloured a rich Indian red, in true fresco, and the surface afterwards picked out with white lines in the similitude of the small bricks beneath.

The extreme severity of the lines of the building is relieved by the division of the surfaces into slightly sunk rectangular panels, alternatively vertical and horizontal, the vertical panels having usually an inner panel with arched head or the more florid cusped mihrab. These panels, where they are exposed to weather, are generally filled with a peculiar inlaid faience pottery called kashi, the effect of which must have been very fine when the setting of deep red plaster of the walls was intact.'
'The facade of the sanctuary is practically covered with kashi and is divided into the usual oblong panels. A beautiful border is carried rectangularly round the centre archway, and inscriptions in Persian characters occur in an outer border, in a long panel over the archway, and in horizontal panels along the upper portions of the lower walls to right and left. The spandrels are filled in with extremely fine designs.

Lahore Museum

Lahore Museum was established in 1894 in Lahore, Pakistan, and is one of the major museums of South Asia. Lahore Museum is also known as Central Museum, and is located on The Mall. Rudyard Kipling's father John Lockwood Kipling, was one of the famous curators of the museum and the novel Kim was set in the vicinity of the Lahore Museum. Over 250,000 admissions were registered in 2005.[1]
It is located opposite the old University Hall, a Mughal-style building on the Shahrah-e-Quaid-e-Azam. The Museum contains some fine specimens of Mughal and Sikh door-ways and wood-work and contains a large collection of paintings dating back to the Mughal, Sikh and British eras.
The Museum has also a collection of musical instruments, ancient jewellery, textiles, pottery and armory. There are relics from the Graeco-Bactrian times as well as well as some Tibetan and Nepalese work. The museum has a number of objects of Greco-Buddhist sculptures, Mughal and Pahari paintings on display. The Fasting Buddha is one of the unique collections of the museum — in 2004 Nobuaki Tanaka, the Japanese ambassador, agreed to provide technical know how as the Buddha is popular with Japanese tourists[2].

Lahore Museum

Lahore Museum was established in 1894 in Lahore, Pakistan, and is one of the major museums of South Asia. Lahore Museum is also known as Central Museum, and is located on The Mall. Rudyard Kipling's father John Lockwood Kipling, was one of the famous curators of the museum and the novel Kim was set in the vicinity of the Lahore Museum. Over 250,000 admissions were registered in 2005.[1]
It is located opposite the old University Hall, a Mughal-style building on the Shahrah-e-Quaid-e-Azam. The Museum contains some fine specimens of Mughal and Sikh door-ways and wood-work and contains a large collection of paintings dating back to the Mughal, Sikh and British eras.
The Museum has also a collection of musical instruments, ancient jewellery, textiles, pottery and armory. There are relics from the Graeco-Bactrian times as well as well as some Tibetan and Nepalese work. The museum has a number of objects of Greco-Buddhist sculptures, Mughal and Pahari paintings on display. The Fasting Buddha is one of the unique collections of the museum — in 2004 Nobuaki Tanaka, the Japanese ambassador, agreed to provide technical know how as the Buddha is popular with Japanese tourists[2].

Zamzama Gun

The Zamzama Gun, also known as Kim’s Gun or Bhangianwala Toap is a large bore cannon. It was cast in 1757 in Lahore, now in Pakistan but at the time part of the Durrani Empire. It is currently on display in front of the Lahore Museum in Lahore, Pakistan.

The Lahore Fort, Shahi Qila (Urdu: شاهی قلعہ ) i

The Lahore Fort, locally referred to as Shahi Qila (Urdu: شاهی قلعہ ) is citadel of the city of Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It is located in the northwestern corner of the Walled City of Lahore. The trapezoidal composition is spread over 20 hectares. Origins of the fort go as far back as antiquity, however, the existing base structure was built during the reign of Mughal emperor Akbar (1556-1605), and was regularly upgraded by subsequent rulers. Thus the fort manifests the rich traditions of the entire Mughal architecture.[1] Some of the famous sites inside the fort include: Sheesh Mahal, Alamgiri Gate, Naulakha pavilion, and Moti Masjid. In 1981, the fort was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with the Shalimar Gardens (Lahore).

Food Street (Gawalmandi)

This is a newly introduced food bazar were you can enjoy all kinds of local specialties. This place is famous for its Mughali, Pakistani, Lahori, and bar-b-q cuisine. The environment in which this bazar is situated reflects the pre-partition Indian architecture relived through effective facelifting of the buildings on both sides dazzled by lively lights.

Changa Manga forests

Changa Manga forests are 70km from Lahore. These forests have been developed into an excellent park complete with a serpentine rail road which gives the visitor a 50km ride on a miniature train through the thick forest. There is a lake called Lunar Lake where boating is a common feature.

Hiran Minar (Deer Watch Tower):

This is a three story monument built by the Mughal Emperor Jehangir in the early 17th century and is dedicated to the memory of his pet deer Monsroj. It has an artificial pond and four small pavilions which were added after the minarts. The neighbouring village of Sheikhupura is famous for its dancing camel and horses. It is a popular spot 45km out side Lahore.

Hazoori Bagh

The ashes of the Sikh ruler of Punjab, Maharaja Ranjeet Singh, and of his four wives lie in a dome adjacent to the Hazoori Bagh and is famously known as 'Samadhy of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh'. Apart from these there are certain Shrines and Mausoleums like the Shrine of Data Sahib (Hazrat Ali Hajveri), the Mausoleum of Emperor Jehangir, Asif Khan's (Jehangir's brother-in-law) Mausoleum, Empress Noor Jehan's (light of the world) Tomb whose name appeared on the coins of the Mughal Empire, Qutbuddin Aibak's Tomb, Anarkali's Tomb and the tomb of Allama Muhammad Iqbal who has been hailed as the poet-philosopher of the East.

Royal Fort (Shahi Qila)

The most important historical monuments of the Moghul's in Lahore are; the Royal Fort (Shahi Qila), the Badshahi Mosque. The Independance monument, the tombs of emperor Jehangir, Noor Jehan, Anarkali, Asif-Jah and the famous Shalimar Gardens. In the old part of the town and off the Kashmir Bazaar, reputedly the most beautiful Mosque of South Asia is located, the "Wazir Khan's Mosque'. It is a marvellous specimen of tile work and arabesque paintings. The Imperial or the Badshahi Mosque is accross the courtyard from Alamgiri Gate of the Lahore Fort. The Mosque, made up entirely of red sandstone, was built by Emperor Aurangzeb. 5 kms east of old city, are the famous Shalimar Gardens laid out by Mughal Emperor Shah-Jehan in 1642 A.D. The Gardens are set out in typical Mughul style and are surrounded by high walls with watchtowers at the four corners. The Golden Mosque is also situated in the Kashmiri Bazaar. It was built in 1753 A.D. by Nawab Syed Bhikari Khan who was Deputy Governor of Lahore.

CHUBURGI

Lahore is the second largest city of Pakistan and the provincial capital of Punjab. Apart from being the cultural and academic centre of the country, Lahore is the Mughal "show-window" of Pakistan. In the Mughal days a 9-meter high brick wall surrounded the Old City. It had a rampart running around it which almost connected with the River Ravi to serve as protection for the city. A circular road around the rampart gave access to the city through thirteen gates. Some of the imposing structures of these gates are still preserved. In the bazaars of the Old City one can still find tiny shops where craftsmen can be seen busy turning out master-pieces in copper, brass, silver and textiles in traditional fashion.

MINAR E PAKISTAN

Situated on the east bank of the River Ravi, the wonderful city of Lahore adds to the charisma of Pakistan. Legend traces its origin to Loh, the son of Rama Chandra, the hero of the Ramayana, but history records that it began as a dependency of the 8th century AD Hindu ruler, Lalitiditya. In the early 11th century it came under Muslim rule and evolved as a center of Islamic culture and learning as well as trade and commerce. In the 13th century it was depopulated and razed to the ground by the Tartar-Mongol hordes of Genghis Khan. Lahore was a cultural and intellectual center during the Moghul and British eras. Such atmosphere still pervades, but it is the diversity and contrast of the different sections of Lahore, which makes it the most eventfully interesting part of Pakistan.