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LAHORE According to the legend, city of Lahore was founded by Lava, son of Rama Lahore is the Capital City of Punjab Province and is also called the Heart of Pakistan because of its lively people and rich culture. According to a famous saying “One Who Has Not Seen Lahore Has Yet Not Born”. It had traditionally been the cultural center of Northern India extending from Peshawar to New Delhi. Lahore is very popular with the tourists because of its rich cultural heritage, fine monuments of the Moghul period and the British rule, its busy bazaars and beautiful gardens. During the period of the Moghul Empire the city of Lahore attained its glory and flourished. Akbar the Great, the prime ruler of the Moghul Empire made Lahore his capital from 1584 to 1598. Shenshah Jehangir had much affection for the city, his tomb and the tomb of his beloved wife Nurjahan are present in the city. Shah Jahan one of the great descendants of the Moghul Family was born in Lahore and embellished the city of his birth with elegant architectural monuments. The famous Shalimar Gardens were built during the reign of Emperor Shah Jahan in the year 1647. Badshahi Mosque was constructed under the supervision of Aurangzeb another descendent of the Moghul Family. Impressed with pivotal position of the city in the kingdom many rulers invaded the city after the Moghul Empire. The most demolishing invasion was of Ranjit Singh. He ruled the city for half a century and during his rule he stripped the monuments of history and took all the precious stones back to Amritsar, leaving behind the memories of an unforgettable era. From the year 1849 to 1947, under the British Rule the city of Lahore acquired a new look. Under the British Rule the aesthetic sense of British architects and artistic brilliance of Indian workers gave birth to a new form of architecture, `the fine blend of Moghul, Gothic and Victorian architecture’. The buildings of Supreme Court, The High Court and the Government College are the legacies of the same fine art. Minar-e-Pakistan, the prestigious tower of Pakistan, was constructed at the place where the Muslims of Sub-continent passed a resolution to create a new homeland in the year 1940. Temperature is usually warm except in the months of December – February, when it is cool pleasant and clear. Sightseeing Tour ‘A’
The tour begins by visiting Lahore Fort, the unforgettable monument of the Moghul architecture. The construction of the Lahore Fort took half a millenium, as it started in the 11th century and ended in the 16th century. Akbar, Jehangir and Shah Jahan supervised its construction.
Inside the fort Shah Jahan erected the splendid Sheesh Mahal (Palace of Mirrors) Shah Jahan’s quadrangle and the Pearl Mosque. Gateway of the fort opens towards the courtyard of the Badshahi Mosque, which is the world’s most splendors Mosque. This Mosque was built during the reign of Emperor Aurangzeb. After visiting fort and mosque, we will visit the tomb of the world famous Poet of the East Sir Dr. Mohammed Iqbal which is at the doorsteps of the Badshahi Mosque. We will also visit the Minar-e-Pakistan.
Sightseeing Tour ‘B’
We drive through the city of Lahore to the famous Shalimar Gardens. This garden was constructed in the reign of Emperor Shah Jahan in the year 1642. The gardens are designed in the Persian manner with marble pavilions, a marble waterfall and more than 400 fountains in an area of 42 acres. After the gardens we will go to the famous Anarkali Bazaar, which is named after a beautiful dancer who was put to death by Emperor Akbar by building a wall around her, for having a love affair with the crown prince, who later on was known as Emperor Jehangir. After this we will visit Wazir Khan’s Mosque, which was constructed under the supervision of the Governor in 1634. In the end we will visit the tomb of Noorjehan, wife of Emperor Jehangir. This tomb is also a marvel of Moghul architecture. Sightseeing Tour ‘C’ National Museum of Lahore is the largest and the best museum in Pakistan built in Mughul Gothic style, inaugurated by Prince Albert Victor in 1894. The 17 magnificent galleries of the museum not only represent the history and culture of Pakistan and its neighboring regions but also exhibit a rich collection of items from half a million years old to the recent master pieces. Museum contains a superb collection of relics of the rich cultural heritage of Pakistan in general and Lahore in particular. The rare collection of Moghul paintings, statues of Buddha in different attitudes including the priceless “Fasting Buddha” also other examples of Ghandara sculpture and evidences reflecting the successive stages of the oriental civilization, miniature paintings, manuscript are on display. Across the Museum is the Kim’s Gun popularly known as Zam-Zama, the gun immortalized by Rudyard Kipling. We will also visit the Town Hall, a yellow building with bulbous silver domes, constructed under the reign of the Queen.
A Tour of Hiran MinarHiran Minar means deer tower and was built by Emperor Jehangir in 1616 as a monument in the memory of his pet deer, Mansraj. It is situated near Shekhupura City (the birthplace of founder of Sikh religion) some 34 km from Lahore. Hiran Minar is set upon an octagonal base and has five stories and it is a 130 feet high building with a breathtaking view of the elegant grounds and lake below. It is a popular picnic resort with a lake and boating facility
Shekhupura is famous for its old fort woodcarving. Visit of the city shows decorated bazaars with wooden balconies and artisans at work. Return to Lahore in the evening. A stop at Data Darbar is also possible on Thursdays to see the mystic dance in front of the Sufi saint Data Gunj Bux Shrine. Excursion to Harappa Excavations Harappa, an archaeological site is one of the two main cities of Indus civilization. Its is situated on the banks of river Ravi, some 200 km from Lahore. Harappa flourished in 3rd millennium B.C. Every house of the town had an amazing sewerage system and surprisingly they all had water well. This shows that the people living here were considered among the civilized citizens. Graves that have been so far excavated has yielded many objects which with other personal articles are exhibited in a small museum. Harappa is also visited by Buddhists and Hindus as it has four Buddhist stupas, 12 monasteries and 20 Hindu temples. The monuments and excavations absorb and mesmerize the viewer and one feels to be breathing in a five thousand years old kingdom
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