Saints and Shrines

The city of Lahore in Pakistan is known for its rich culture, Forts & Grand Mosques, its food and music are world famous, Also famous are the sufi saints who hailed from this city or came here to live and were burried here, among the more famous shrines of Lahore are Data Darbar the Shrine of Hazrat Ali Hajweri Syed Abul Hassan Bin Usman Bin Ali Al-Hajweri the famous Sufi saint of Persian origion, The shrine of Gamey Shah, The tomb of Baba Shah Jamal and Bibi Pak Daman.Although I'm not very religious I decided to go visit Bibi Pak Daman as the legend behind this particular shrine was quite interesting. Bibi Pak Daman is famous for being the shrine of 6 Ladies from the household of the Prophet Mohammed, Including Ruqayah binte Ali the daughter of Hazrat Ali the forth caliph of Islam the othe five graves are said to be those of hazrat Muslim bin Aqeel's sisters and daughters. Legend has it that these ladies were traveling alone after the events at karbala and when the reached Lahore the ruler at that time tried to arrest them because the were gaining a following and not wanting that, Bibi Pak Daman prayed to God and asked him to open the earth and take them in, when the soldiers came to arrest them the earth split into two and they went in only a little of the Dupatta (scarf) of Bibi Ruqayah remained and when the lead soldier tried to get hold of that it too slid into the soil, Thus the name Bibi Pak Daman meaning even the scarf of the lady was pure and thus could not be touched.

The Mazar is the end to a busy and colorfull street full of shops selling religious literature, multimedia and prayer beads among other things.

Pakistan Heritage 1 - Hiran Minar

Pakistan and Pakistanis are not very good at remembering or respecting our heritage, even though we have a rich and vibrant history with monuments and architecture from the Mughal and British era which could very well generate millions for the coffers of this country, the Government has done nothing to maintain or present these amazing chapters from our history to the world at large, and the general public has had no shame in engraving their worthless names over piceless frescos. Hiran Minar complex is one such wonder.

The origional Minar (tower) was built by the Mughal Emperor Jehangir in 1606 in memory of his favourite deer "Mansraj", the grave of the deer is in the tower. The water tank, baadari(pavilion) and causeway connecting the baradari with the mainland and hiran minar were constructed by Emperor Shah Jehan in 1620 and used as a roal residence during hunting trips. The complex is supposed to have been surrounded by a forest and had extensive well maintained gardens, currently the whole complex is in bad shape, the lawns and gardens are badly in need of maintanace so are the buildings which need protection from the people who pride themselves in writing their names over ancient frescos. If something like this was located in a country that honored and respected their heriatage, it would be a place worth seeing, it would be the site for events and functions, and people would flock to it to see the architechture, the paintings and the gardens through which Emperors once walked.

The only painting found intact probably because it was too high to deface.

ps. These pictues and obsevations are from a weekend trip to Hiran Minar a popular heriatge site open to public, I hope to post pictures of another building and its grounds from the british era which still has its glory because it is the residence of a government official, unfortunately that is not open for the public's enjoyment.

Pakistan Election in Pictures

A young couple happily pose for a post-voting picture, proudly showing their inked thumbs as proof of their vote.

Party wokers assisting thier voters in finding their names on the voter lists.

A deserted polling station at 1:00 pm.


Various politicals patries had their booths setup in front of a shrine near a polling station.

Clogged traffic leading to a poling station around noon.

Party booth for a National Assembly Candidate next to a polling station.

Another party booth near a polling station.

Pakistan General Elections 2008

Today the people of Pakistan voted for another time in the hope of a better tomorrow. Hope afterall is the only things the 170 million people of pakistan have. Since independence 60 years ago Pakistan has had a troubled past with numerous untimely elections and military governments running and plundering the country. The last puppet government mostly run by Genereal Pervaiz Musharaf and his puppeteers was the first one to complete a term in office amid allegations of rampant curroption and nepotism.

A country of poor folk where neccessities like cooking oil, flour, water, electricity and gas have become a rairty rather then norm has once again voted for another batch of people with empty promises who openly used and abused their povety for a vote. Political candidates used everthing the could think off to get the votes of the people, reportedly people have been promised/delivered bags of flour, tins of oil and fresh fruit among other neccesities but the most blatant disregard for ethics and morals has perhaps come from the incumbent party which has promised in some cases and sent money orders in other to the amount of Rs.1500/- for a vote.

Even though the atmosphere was tense the voter turnout seemed to be mediocre, it was noticed that educated people who seldom went out of their houses in past elections went out to vote for their favourite candidates, I went to 3 polling stations in the vicinity of DHA Lahore to observe and photograph. One of the stations had a good amount of people while the other two seemed rather quite, political parties had set up booths to assist their voters and I noticed a few complaints of names missing from the voters lists but in geneal things seemed to be running smoothly.