Wazir Khan Mosque

he 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.

Rohtas Fort (قلعہ روہتاس – Qila Rohtas)

Rohtas Fort (Urdu: قلعہ روہتاس Qila Rohtas) is a garrison fort built by the great Afghan king Sher Shah Suri. This fort is about 4 km in circumference and the first example of the successful amalgamation of Pukhtun and Hindu architecture in the sub-continent.

Jehangir Kothari Parade

Jehangir Kothari Parade is located in Clifton beach in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan.

Access to the sea at Clifton is provided by the terraced Parade known as the Jehangir Kothari Parade. The site, owned by Mr. Jehangir Kothari, an eminent Karachi citizen, who gifted it along with a handsome donation Rs. 300,000 to the Municipality for the development of recreational facilities. The foundation stone was laid by the Governor of Bombay, Sir George Lloyd on 10th February, 1919 and formally opened by Lady Lloyd on 5th January, 1920. The Lady Lloyd Pier was also opened by her on 21st March, 1921.

The Kiosk at one end of the parade, with its elliptical roof structure, built in Jodhpur stone, has an octagonal seat in the center and was used as a Bandstand in yester-years. The pier is 1300 ft long, 15 ft wide and ends in a 70 ft by 50 ft sea-side Pavilion constructed on piles. Gizri limestone and Jodhpur stone were used for its construction.

The Sheesh Mahal

The Sheesh Mahal ( Urdu: شيش محل ), literally “Crystal Palace”, is one of the most lavish rooms within the Lahore Fort. The walls and ceiling are covered with small pieces of colored mirror. The Sheesh Mahal was constructed by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in 1631.

Shah Jahan Mosque

Shah Jahan Mosque was built in the reign of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. It is located in Thatta, Pakistan. It is included in the UNESCO World Heritage and has been to preserved since its entry. In the town of Thatta (100 kms / 60 miles from Karachi) itself, there is famous Shahjahani Mosque with its beautiful architecture. This mosque was built in 1647 during the reign of Mughal King Shahjahan, also known as the builder King. The mosque is built with red bricks with blue colored glaze tiles probably imported from Iran and another Sindh’s town of Hala.

Hunza Valley

Hunza Valley ( Urdu: ہنزہ ) is a mountainous valley near Gilgit in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. The Hunza valley is situated at an elevation of 2,438 metres (7,999 feet). The territory of Hunza is about 7,900 km² [3,050 sq, miles]. Karimabad is the main town which is a popular tourist attraction in Pakistan because of the spectacular scenery of the surrounding mountains like Rakaposhi 7,788 m (25,551 ft), Ultar Sar (7,388 m), Bojahagur Duanasir II (7,329 m), Ghenta Peak (7,090 m), Hunza Peak (6,270 m), Darmyani Peak (6,090 m) and Bublimating (Ladyfinger Peak) (6,000 m).

The Badshahi Mosque

The Badshahi Mosque ( بادشاھی مسجد ), or the ‘Emperor’s Mosque’, was built in 1673 by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in Lahore, Pakistan. It is one of the city’s best known landmarks, and a major tourist attraction epitomising the beauty and grandeur of the Mughal era.
Lahore, Pakistan.

Baltit Fort or Balti Fort

Baltit Fort or Balti Fort is an ancient fort in the Hunza valley in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. In former times survival of the feudal regimes of Hunza was ensured by the impressive Baltit fort, that sit on top of Karimabad. The foundations of the fort are said to date back around 700 years, but there have been rebuilds and alterations over the centuries. In the 16th century the Thum married a princess from Baltistan who brought master Balti craftsmen to renovate the building as part of her dowry. The architectural style is a clear indication of Tibetan influence in Baltistan at the time.

Makli

Makli, outside Thatta, an hour from Karachi, Pakistan.

One of the largest necropolises in the world, with a diameter of approximately 8 kilometers, Makli Hill is supposed to be the burial place of some 125,000 Sufi saints. It is located on the outskirts of Thatta, the capital of lower Sind until the seventeenth century, in what is the southeastern province of present-day Pakistan.

Legends abound about its inception, but it is generally believed that the cemetery grew around the shrine of the fourteenth-century Sufi, Hamad Jamali. The tombs and gravestones spread over the cemetery are material documents marking the social and political history of Sind.

Imperial mausoleums are divided into two major groups, those from the Samma (1352–1520) and Tarkhan (1556–1592) periods. The tomb of the Samma king, Jam Nizam al-Din (reigned 1461–1509), is an impressive square structure built of sandstone and decorated with floral and geometric medallions. Similar to this is the mausoleum of Isa Khan Tarkhan II (d. 1651), a two-story stone building with majestic cupolas and balconies. In contrast to the syncretic architecture of these two monuments, which integrate Hindu and Islamic motifs, are mausoleums that clearly show the Central Asian roots of the later dynasty. An example is the tomb of Jan Beg Tarkhan (d. 1600), a typical octagonal brick structure whose dome is covered in blue and turquoise glazed tiles. Today, Makli Hill is a United Nations World Heritage Site that is visited by both pilgrims and tourists.

Ranikot

Ranikot stretches upto 24 Km in circumference. At some places the wall construction has not been completed.

No historical evidence presently exists which can really tell us about this most magnifient fort in the country besides Rohtas (Jhelum, Punjab). So historians and visitors can only aim their theories in the dark. The claims vary, from early Greek period down to Talpur. No one is sure about it, though.

Derawar Fort

Derawar Fort is a large square fortress in Pakistan near Bahawalpur. The forty bastions of Delawar are visible for many miles in Cholistan Desert. The walls have a circumference of 1500 meters and stand up to thirty meters high.

Satpara Lake

Skardu (Urdu: سکردو) is the principal town of the region Baltistan and the capital of Skardu District, one of the districts making up Pakistan’s Northern Areas.

Skardu is located in the 10 km wide by 40km long Skardu Valley, at the confluence of the Indus river (flowing from near Kailash in Tibet and through neighbouring Ladakh before reaching Baltistan) and the Shigar River. Skardu is situated at an altitude of nearly 2,500 m (8,200 feet), the town is surrounded by grey-brown coloured mountains, which hide the 8,000 metre peaks of the nearby Karakoram range.

West – Vigne Glacier

Stragglers plod on on the West-Vigne at 5000 meters+, hoping to get to camp in an hour or two.

The West-Vigne Glacier, Baltistan District, Northern Areas, Pakistan.