Lahore
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 Situated on the east bank of the Ravi River, Lahore is very old. Legend traces its origin to Loh, the son of Rama Chandra, the hero of the Ramayana, but history records that it began as a dependency of the 8th century AD Hindu ruler, Lalitiditya. In the early 11th century it came under Muslim rule and evolved as a centre of Islamic culture and learning as well as trade and commerce. In the 13th century it was depopulated and razed to the ground by the Tartar-Mongol hordes of Genghis Khan. Timurlane and his Muslim Turks also arrived and destroyed the city. Lahore was a cultural and intellectual centre during both the Moghul and British eras, and it's an atmosphere which still pervades today, but it is the diversity and contrast of the different sections of the city which make Lahore interesting. Apart from local tourists with their blaring transistors, you could almost be back in the Moghul era.Lahore is 213 metres above sea level and has a population of approximately 3 million. The temperature here drops down to 10C in winter, but in summer can soar to 40C or more. The best time to visit is straight after the monsoon period when the weather is cool and pleasant. | |||||||||||||||
| T h e O l d C i t y In the Mughal days the Old City was surrounded by a 9-meter high brick wall and had a rampart running around it with a most connected with the River Ravi, which served as a protection for the city.  A circular road around the rampart gave access to the city through thirteen gates. Some of the imposing structures of these gates are still preserved.In the bazaars of the Old City one still comes across tiny shops where craftsmen can be seen busy turning out master-pieces in copper, brass, silver as well as textiles in the traditional fashion. | |||||||||||||||
| R o y a l F o r t L a h o r e | |||||||||||||||
| Although most parts of the Royal fort were constructed around 1566 AD by the Mughal Emperor, Akbar the Great, there is a evidence that a mud fort was in existence here in 1021 AD as well, when mud fort and constructed most of the modern Fort, as we see it today, on the old foundations. Constructions of the fort dates back to the early Hindu period. |  | ||||||||||||||
The Royal Fort is rectangular. The main gates are located alongside the centre of the western and eastern walls. Every succeeding Mughal Emperor as well as the Sikhs, and the British in their turn, added a pavilion, palace of wall to the Fort. Emperor Jehangir extended the gardens and constructed the palaces that we see today in the Jehangir's Quadrangle, while Shah Jehan added Diwan-e-Khas, Moti Masjid (Pearl Mosque) and his own Sleeping Chambers. Aurangzeb built the impressive main gate, which faces the Hazoori Bagh lying in between the Badshahi Mosque and the fort. The famous Sheesh Mahal or Place of Mirrors is in the northeast corner of the fort. This is the most beautiful palace in the fort and is decorated with small mirrors of different colours set. The part of the wall of the elephant Steps towards the forts inner gate are scarred by bullet marks, bearing testimony to the Sikh Civil War of 1847 AD. A party of Sikhs had mounted their guns on one of the minarets of the mosque across the courtyard from where they fired on their opponents. the Sleeping Chamber of Mai Jindan houses a very interesting museum with relics from Mughal and the Sikh periods. | |||||||||||||||
B a d s h a h i M o s q u e The Imperial or the Badshahi Mosque is across the courtyard from Alamgiri Gate of the Lahore Fort. Emperor Aurangzeb, the last of the great Mughals, built the Mosque, which is made up entirely of red sandstone, in a record time of two and-a-half years. Its construction was completed by 1674 AD. It has a beautiful gateway, which measures 21.33 metres in length and a courtyard that measures 161.5 x 160.6 metres and is said to be the largest mosque courtyard in the world for outdoor prayers. The marble domes cover seven prayer chambers. Four lofty minarets stand at the four corners of the mosque, each with an outer circumference of 20 metres, soaring up to 54 metres.In the chambers above the Gate of the mosque, are housed relics attributed to the Holy Prophet of Islam Peace be upon him, his daughter and his son-in-law and are said to have been brought to the sub-continent by Amir Taimur. Within the Mosque almost all the colours have been used for painting the floral designs but the overall effect remains one of sobriety, piousness and simplicity. | |||||||||||||||
