Comprehensive information and links about Pakistan Lahore

Lahore (لاھور) is a major city in Pakistan and is the capital of the province of Punjab. A native of Lahore is called a b.

It is located near the river Ravi and the Indian border, at 31.5710 North, 74.3130 East. Lahore has 8.5 million inhabitants and thus is the second largest city in Pakistan, (Karachi being the largest). It is considered to be the 24th largest city of the world.

Punjabi is the language of the province, and is the most widely spoken language in Lahore. Punjabi spoken by the people of Lahore is known as i due to a mixture of Punjabi and colloquial Urdu spoken in Lahore.

Lahore is largely thought of as the cultural centre of Pakistan ever since its accession by the Mughal Empire since the 16th century A.D.This is apparent by the vast array of historic buildings, architecture from pre-Mughal, Mughal and British periods, and cultural events held throughout the year.

The recently renovated Data Durbar is perhaps the most famous example of architecture from pre-Mughal times. Mughal architecture can be seen in the Badshahi Mosque, Lahore Fort and Shalimar Gardens. Various buildings originally built by the British (such as the Lahore High Court) still retain their Mughal-Gothic .

The city came under Muslim rule due to the raids of Mahmud of Ghazni, who placed it under the rule of his beloved slave, Malik Ayaz. When Qutb-ud-din Aybak was crowned in 1206 here, he became the first Muslim Sultan of the Indian subcontinent. From 1524 to 1752 Lahore was part of the Mughal Empire.

During Akbar's rule, Lahore was the capital of the empire from 1584 to 1598. During this time a massive fort, the Lahore Fort, was built on the fundaments of an older fort in the 1560s. This fort was later extended by Jahangir and Shah Jahan.

The last of the Mughals, Aurangzeb, ruling from 1658 to 1707, built the city's most famous monuments, the Badshahi Masjid and the Alamgiri Gate next to the Lahore Fort. The Sikhs ruled it in the 18th and 19th centuries, making Lahore the capital of sovereign Punjab. However the last bloody Anglo-Sikh war resulted in a British victory thus bringing Lahore under the rule of the British crown. On partition of British India in 1947 into India and Pakistan, Lahore passed into the newly formed Pakistan. At the time of independence, Lahore was heavily affected by large-scale riots between Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs. Amritsar and other cities were also heavily affected.

The famous British author and poet, Joseph Rudyard Kipling, lived in Lahore during the 1880s, where his parents were also working. Kipling began working as an editor for a local newspaper and continued tentative steps into the world of poetry; his first professional sales were in 1883.

Shad Bagh is the most famous area of Northen Lahore. It is located at back side of Lahore Railway Station. The more exciting palce of Shad Bagh is Goal Bagh(as known as Goal Ground means round shape garden)

The Garden Town is really amzing residence area and its name shows that there are alot of gardens in it actually garden town is divided in different blocks E.G Ahmed Block,Garden BLock,Babar Block,Tariq Block,Tipu Block,Shershah Block,Ali Block,Ataturk Block,Aurangzeb Block ETC. There is a big shopping centre Barkat Market in it where boutiques,chinese and pakistani resurants ,burger shops and shopping mall Like Era,Quick Chek,Ntasha,Utility Store,Tesco are .There are no of banks there in Barkar Market E.G National Bank,Muslim Commerical bank,Punjab Bank Alfaisal Bank etc. There are no of resturants in Barkat Market like Mfc,kafc etc

Education in Lahore

Lahore boasts hundreds of schools, private and public. The recent decade has witnessed a major surge in higher education institutions' numbers. Lahore is considered one of the most open-minded and enlightened cities of Pakistan. A list of premier education institutions in the city of Lahore is given below:

Economy and business

The center to Lahore's economy is the LSE, lahore stock exchange which is linked to the karachi stock exhange. The single biggest investor has over 200 million dollars invested in the exchange. It has all the Government corporations including WAPDA and WASA as well as other public companies including,Deewan motors, Habib bank, PSO and lever brothers, which has the highest price per share in LSE.

The city of Lahore never sleeps. The foodresturant businesses are open all night long. They serve traditional dishes in dinner, till its time for serving breakfast in the morning. The markets are usually open night long. It is the second largest financial hub of Pakistan after Karachi, and has various industrial areas including kot lakpat and the new defence road(raiwand) etc. Lahore has also been decided as the city to build the tallest hotel in South Asia, the new Pearl continental hotel.

As Lahore expands the previous resedential areas are being turned into commercial centres and the suburban population is consistently moving away from these places. This has resulted in the development of the liberty market, which has everything for women. The MM alam road, the premium destination in the Lahore for continental food, the new jail road which has of one the largest office buildings in lahore only next to ones on Mall road, and the new 8 lane Main boulevard road which has one of Lahore's largest shopping centres on either sides.

The sub-urban population from these areas are moving into less busy areas which resulted in a thriving construction industry. At the moment there are multiple mega housing projects in Lahore including, Bahria town, Lake city project, Edden villas etc. There is even a project (by a Pakistani and UAE group called Emaar)to construct a beautiful and modern new city right outside of Lahore! This city will be bigger than the UAE city of Abu Dhabi!

Lahore is one of the most accessible cities of Pakistan. In addition to the historic Grand Trunk Road a.k.a G.T. road, a motorway was completed in 2000, from Lahore to Islamabad, the capital. Lahore also has the highest number of underpasses in Pakistan, due to an attempt by the government to link one end of the city to the other end.

Pakistan Railways Headquarters (HQ)

Pakistan Railways HQ is also located in lahore. Pakistan Railways provides an important mode of transportation in the farthest corners of the country and brings them closer for Business, sight seeing, pilgrimage and education. It has been a great integrating force and forms the life line of the country by catering to its needs for large scale movement of people and freight.

Lahore Central Railway Station

Lahore Railway Station, Dai Anga Mosque, Landa Bazaar

The new airport has been constructed in 2003 named Allama Iqbal International Airport after the national poet of Pakistan Mohammed Iqbal. It facilitates for the increasing demand by passengers and the growth of the city for which it was built to accommadate. It is served by the national flag carrier, Pakistan International Airlines and many other national and international airlines to cater for the ever increasing tourism to the city. This new airport of international standards is expected to be one of the busiest airports in Asia in the upcoming years.

Hajj Terminal

After Allama Iqbal International Airport took over from the previous airport, the previous airport was turned into the Hajj Terminal to facillitate the great influx of Hajjis that travel to the Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia to perform the Hajj every year. Services are operated by the national flag carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).

There is famous Punjabi saying that one who has not seen Lahore is yet to be born which means Lahore is worth seeing and worth living in.

The Badshahi Masjid, one of the world's largest mosques and one of humanity's greatest architectural treasures, is located just outside the Northeast corner of the Walled City. Opposite is the historic Lahore Fort which houses the famous Sheesh Mahal, or Palace of Mirrors. Between the two buildings is a garden known as Hazuri Bagh in which Maharaja Ranjit Singh built a baradari, a decorated marble pavilion. Every Sunday afternoon story-tellers, poets and singers gather in the garden to continue their oral tradition, often reciting Waris Shah's Heer, Bulleh Shah, Farid Ganjshakar or other Punjabi literature.

The Mausoleum of Muhammad Iqbal is also located in this garden, near the Eastern wall of the Badshahi Masjid. On the Northern side of the garden is the Samadhi of Ranjit Singh. Very close to that is the shrine of Syed Ali Hajveiri (ra), who is popularly known as Data Ganj Bukhsh and is famous as the Patron Saint of Lahore. The shrine is referred to by many as, "Data Sahib."

The Southern side of Hazuri Bagh is bounded by the wall of the Walled City, with the Roshnai Gate serving as an entrance. Roshnai Gate leads into the Shahi Mohalla quarter of the Walled City, also known as Hira Mandi. Shahi Mohalla offers a large variety of traditional food, including the famous Phajje ke Paye.

The Minar-e-Pakistan is a white marble construction and is fashioned as a commemorative tower that was built to remind its visitors of the famous "Pakistan Resolution" passed by the All India Muslim League, in 1940. This resolution was the first public expression of intent on the part of the mulims of United India to build their own homeland - Pakistan. The Minar (or Tower) is located in Iqbal Park, across the road from the Badshahi Masjid complex.

Just behind the Lahore Fort is the Masti Gate entrance. This area is dominated by wholesale shoesellers, or both traditional and Western shoes. Further down the street is located one of the cities oldest mosques, the Mosque of Mariyam Zamani Begum, named after the mother of Jahangir.

This Gate is very close to Bhati Gate and it was built, like many other gates, to keep the enemies out. Now, it is surrounded by shops and has significance of great architecture. In urdu "loha" means Iron. It is named Lohari because it was just outside of this gate that many Lohars (Black Smiths) lived and had their workshops.

The Kashmiri Gate faces the direction of Kashmir. Inside there is a shopping area called "Kashmiri Bazaar".

The Bhati Gate entrance is located on the Western wall of the Old City. The area inside the gate is well known throughout the city for its food. Just outside of Bhati Gate is Data Durbar, the mausoleum of the Sufi saint Ali Hajweri (also known as Data Sahib Ganjbaksh). Every Thursday evening musicians gather here to perform Qawwali music.

Delhi Gate is an entrance on the Eastern wall of the Walled City, named because it faces the road towards Delhi (now part of India).

Inside the gate on the left hand side is located the Shahi Hammam, or "Royal Baths". Further down the bazaar, one will find the beautiful Wazir Khan Mosque, named after a viceroy of the Punjab during the reign of Shah Jahan. Further inwards, the road leads towards the Sonehri Masjid.

Anarkali Bazaar is one of Lahore's most historic markets with every type of shop imaginable. Foreign-made goods are readily available, as well as all domestic products, from brassware to tailored suits.

On the road that led southwards to Multan, the Chauburji gateway remains of an extensive garden know to have existed in Mughal times. The establishment of this garden is attributed to Mughal princes in 1646, which appears in one of the inions on the gateway. The gateway consists of four towers and contain much of the brilliant tile work mostly turquoise colored with which the entire entrance is covered. One of the towers at the northwestern corner collapsed, its foundations perhaps eroded by the waters of the flooding Ravi. This has however been restored as much as was reasonably possible and the gateway now looks as it might have done during the time of its Mughal patroness. The restoration was carried out by the Department of Archeology in the late in1960's. The architecture of Chauburji represents a strong blend of Mughal architecture with ancient Muslim of building. The red brickwork is typical of the Muslim buildings of the sub-continent; the doorways and windows running through the interior corridors are exemplary of the living that characterized the Mughal buildings. However, the main purpose of building Chauburji appears strictly to be monumental, as its presence in the heart of Lahore signifies a strong sense of Mughal architectural beauty. The delicately lofty building standing alone in an island of traffic on the Multan Road is now commonly known as Chaburji because of its four (chau) minarets (burji). Originally it was gateway to the Garden of Zebunnisa or Zebinda Begum, the accomplished daughter of Aurangzeb. This garden is believed to have been extended from Nawankot in the south to the main city of Lahore towards north. However, no traces of such an expansive garden are now available. A fragmentary inion on the eastern archway records that the garden was built in A.H. 1056 i.e. 1646. According to this inion it was built by Sahib-e-Zebinda (one endowed with elegance), Begum Dauran (the lady of Ages) and was bestowed upon Mian Bai, Fakhrunnisa (the pride of Ladies).

Lahore Museum, Lawrence Gardens, Aitchison College, Punjab Assembly, Summit Minar [2]

If you are interested in clothing, then private boutiques are scattered all over the city. The expensive ones are on the Main Boulevard Gulberg and Defence Y Block Market.

While Lahore has a great many traditional and modern restaurants, the turn of the century has seen the appearance of western fast food chains such as McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Subway Sandwiches, Dunkin Donuts, Nando's and Kentucky Fried Chicken in new shopping centres all over the city. A major tourist attraction in Lahore is the famous Food Street in the old historic district of Gawaalmandi. Gawalmaandi had almost legendary status as the place to go for authentic Lahori cuisine. Food street has been a massive restoration project in which Gawaalmandi was cordoned off and street cafex were established under the lights of the restored havelis.

One of Lahore's most famous restaurant is "Coocoo's Den", located in the old city just behind the legendary Badshahi Mosque and Lahore Fort. The restaurant has a magical ambiance and is housed in a 300 year old "kothi" , 5 story house. At different points in the life of this property, Hindu, Buddhist, Christian and Muslim families have owned it. It is currently owned and operated by a Professor from Lahore's National College of Arts. Sitting on the verandah's while enjoying food from the area - most of which has been cooked by the same family, to the same recipe for hundreds of years - one can glance through the Hindu Idol figurines, gazing upon a statue of the Virgin Mary which forms the foreground of the massive and awe-inspiring red sandstone construction that is the Badshahi (Royal) Mosque.

The two Eids, Eid ul-Fitr and Eid ul-Adha commemorate the passing of the month of fasting, Ramadan, and the willingness of Prophet Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Prophet Ishmael for Allah. During these days there are national holidays and many festivals and events take place to celebrate Eid.

Basant is a Punjabi festival thats marks the coming of spring. Basant celebrations in Pakistan are centered in strong and people from all over the country and abroad come to the city for the annual festivities. Kite flying competitions take place all over the city's rooftops during Basant.

Lahore is famous as the hub of handmade carpet manufacturing in Pakistan. At present, hand-knotted carpets produced in and around Lahore are among Pakistan's leading export products and their manufacture is the second largest cottage and small industry. Craftsmen in Lahore have the capacity to produce any type of carpet using all the popular motifs: gulls, medallions, paisleys, traceries, and geometric designs in various combinations. However, the new Institute of Carpet Designing and Weaving has been established in Bahawalpur to train teachers. The Lahore Design Centre at the Punjab Small Industries Corporation maintains a separate section of carpet designing to experiment with new designs.

Ninety-five percent of the carpets are produced for export and Turkoman, Persian and Caucasian designs are crafted since they meet the popular taste abroad. Lahore is famous for single-wefted designs in Turkoman and Caucasian , and double-wefted Mughal types (commonly referred as Pak Persian).

To read more about the arts of Punjab (with a focus on Lahore in particular), visit this page on the Government of Pakistan's web site.

The fully computerized Lahore Stock Exchange is located on Mall Road near Holiday Inn and Awan-e-Iqbal.