Shalimar Gardens, Lahore (page 2)

Shalimar Gardens, Lahore (page 1)

Shalimar Gardens, Lahore

The Shalimar Gardens (Punjabi, Urdu: شالیمار باغ), sometimes written Shalamar Gardens, is a Persian garden and it was built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahanin Lahore, modern day Pakistan. Construction began in 1641 CE (1051 AH) 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. The Shalimar Gardens are located near Baghbanpura along the Grand Trunk Road some 5 kilometers northeast of the main Lahore city. There are five geographical sources of inspiration for Shalimar Gardens: Central Asia, Kashmir, West Punjab, Persia, and the Delhi Sultanate.^[1] They are not to be confused with the Shalimar Gardens (Jammu and Kashmir).

The Shalimar Gardens are laid out in the form of an oblong parallelogram, surrounded by a high brick wall, which is famous for its intricate fretwork. This garden was made on the concept of Char Bhagh. The gardens measure 658 meters north to south and 258 meters east to west. In 1981, Shalimar Gardens was included as a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with the Lahore Fort, under the UNESCO Convention concerning the protection of the world's cultural and natural heritage sites in 1972.

[edit]The three level terraces of the Gardens

The Gardens have been laid out from south to north in three descending terraces, which are elevated by 4–5 metres (13-15 feet) above one another. The three terraces have names in Urdu as follows:

• The upper terrace named Farah Baksh meaning Bestower of Pleasure.
• The middle terrace named Faiz Baksh meaning Bestower of Goodness.
• The lower terrace named Hayat Baksh meaning Bestower of life.

Derawar Fort Bahawalpur images(2)

Derawar Fort Bahawalpur images(1)

Derawar Fort Bahawalpur

Derawar Fort situated near Bahawalpur in Cholistan desert. It is a large square fortress in Pakistan. 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.

The first fort on the site was built by Rai Jajja Bhati, whose sister was married to Deoraj, a prince of Jaisalmer. It remained in the hands of the royal family of Jaisalmer until captured and completely rebuilt by the nawabs of Bahawalpur in 1733. In 1747, the fort slipped from the hands of the Abbasis owing to Bahawal Khan’s preoccupations at Shikarpur. Nawab Mubarak Khan took the stronghold back in 1804.

The nearby marble mosque was modeled after that in the Red Fort of Delhi. There is also a royal necropolis of the Abbasi family, which still owns the stronghold. The area is rich in archaeological artifacts associated with Ganweriwala, a vast but as-yet-unexcavated city of the Indus Valley Civilization.

You can make an intersting excursions from Bahawalpur, full day trip requiring a four-wheel drive vehicle to Derawar Fort (Qila Derawar), through the semi-desert of cholistan.

You need a guide to take you to Derawar, and also permission from the present Amir of Bahawalpur to get inside the fort. The drive takes three to four hours through fasinating barren landscape. The cholistan desert covers 26,000 sq km (10,000 sq miles) and extends into the Thar desert to India. The whole area was once well watered by the river Ghaggar, now called the Hakara in Pakistan, and known in vedic times as the Sarasvati. All along the 500 km (300 miles) of the dried-up river are over 400 archaeological sites. Most of these date from the indus civilisation, 45,00 years ago, and are clustered round Derawar Fort, the only perennial water hole in the desert. There is very little to make out today.

The desert has an average rainfall of 12 cm (5 inches) a year, and there is very little civilisation. The underground water is brackish. The few people of the desert dig artificial wells in the troughs between the sand hills and use camels to draw the water up.

Bahawalpur Noor Mehal

The Noor Mahal (Urdu: نور محل) is a palace in Bahawalpur, Pakistan. It was built in 1872 like an Italian chateau on neoclassical lines, at a time when modernism had set in. It belonged to the Nawab of Bahawalpur princely state, during British Raj.

There are various stories regarding its construction. According to one legend, Nawab Sadiq Muhammad Khan IV had the palace made for his wife; however, she was only there for one night, as she happened to see the adjoining graveyard from her balcony, and refused to spend another night there, and so it remained unused during his reign.

Noor Mehal is one of the hidden gems of Bahawalpur, since not many know about it.The palace is open to public. It is currently in possession of the army and is used as state guest house and for holding state durbars and meetings with foreign delegations.

Bahawalpur images (page 3)