KALEIDOSCOPE

To celebration of the Pakistani National Day

Pakistan � the tourism estate

ALMATY, March 20

Pakistan emerged on the map of the world on 14th August 1947. Pakistan is an Islamic Republic with its capital at Islamabad. It has four provinces: Balochistan, North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), Punjab and Sindh. Their respective capitals are: Quetta, Peshawar, Lahore and Karachi. In addition to provinces are Federally Administered Northern Areas (FANA) and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

Pakistan is a special interest destination. Its important attractions include tourism in the Northern areas, cultural and archaeological tourism as found in Taxila, Moenjodaro, Harappa and Swat and early Muslim and Mughal heritage of Multan, Lahore, Thatta and Peshawar.

From Karakorum in the North to the vast alluvial delta of the Indus river in the South, Pakistan remains a land of high adventure and nature.

BALOCHISTAN.

Balochistan is the largest province of Pakistan with an area of 347,056 sq. km over 40 percent of the country's land mass. It traces its history from times immemorial. Before the birth of Christ, it had commerce and trade with ancient civilization of Babylon through Iran and into the valley of Tigris and Euphrates. Alexander the Great also had an encounter with the Sibia tribe of Balochistan. Balochistan has many places for tourism.

Karkhasa is a recreation Park situated at a distance of 10 km to the west of Quetta. One can see birds like partridges and other wild birds in the park.

Hanna Valley is 10 km from Quetta. Golden fish in the lake comes swimming right up to the edge of the lake. A little distance away, the waters of the lake take on a greenish blue tint. Right where the water ends, have been planted pine trees on the grass filled slopes. The greenish blue waters of the lake provide a rich contrast to the sandy brown of the hills in the background.

Ziarat is situated 133 km from Quetta at the altitude of 2449 meters above the sea level, it is a holiday resort amidst one of the largest and oldest juniper forests in the world.

The Gorges. Balochistan is an arid land which receives very low rainfall annually. But innumerable natural springs known as "Karez" and streams are found in most of the area.

Passes. For many centuries the Balon Pass has been the main entrance to the Quetta district. It is historically significant to note that the Balon Pass had been used as the gateway by most of the immigrants from Central Asia in their drive to discover new homelands in South Asia. The two other important passes are: the Lak Pass between Kalat and Quetta and the Khojak Pass near the border with Afghanistan at Chaman.

NORTH-WEST FRONTIER PROVINCE (NWFP)

North-West Frontier Province, a land of Phatans, is completely man-dominated society. This province has many things for excursions.

Takht-e-Bahi situated atop a 160 meter high are the remains of a famous Buddhist monastery at Takht-e-Bahi, about 80 km from Peshawar. This site has produced fragmentary sculptures in stone and stucco that indicate the highly developed sculptural sense of their creators.

Shahbaz Gahri, 76 km from Peshawar, on the ancient route which runs north to the Kabul River, lie the ruins of another Buddhist monastery at Chanaka Dheri near Shahaz Garhi.

Jamal Gahri is a well-known archaeological site, situated some 20 km away to the North-East of Mardan city, 400 km feet above ground level. According to Sir John Marshal, a famous archaeologist, the circular stupa at Jamal Gahri is one of the earliest in Gandhara.

Trali. The site is situated at the distance of about 2 km from Jamal Gahri towards east. This is a beautiful Buddhist monastery.

Swat Valley with its rushing torrents, lakes, fruit-laden orchards and flower-bedecked slops is a paradise for the tourists. The valley of swat sprawls over 10,360 sq. km. Tourist's season is all year round. The main town of the valley is Saidu Sharif with a museum which houses most archaeological finds excavated in the area.

PUNJAB

Punjab derives its name from the five rivers that unite in the province. It has many things almost at Lahore to be seen.

Royal Fort Lahore was constructed around 1566 A.D. by the Mughal Emperor, Akbar the Great. The Emperor Jahangir extended the gardens and constructed the palaces that we see today in the Jahangir's Quadrangle, while Shah-Jehan added Diwan-e-Khas, Moti Masjid and his own Sleeping Chambers. Auranzeb built the impressive main gate which faces the Hozoori Bagh lying in between the Badshahi Mosque and the Fort. Famous Sheesh Mahal or Palace of Mirrors, is in the north-west corner of the Fort.

Shalimar Gardens. Three miles east of Lahore are the famous Shalimar Gardens laid out by the Mughal Emperor Shah-Jehan in 1642 A.D.

Munar-e-Pakistan is a new landmark in Lahore and stands in the Iqbal Park to commemorate the date when revolution was passed there back in 1940 demanding creation of a separate homeland for Muslims of this sub-continent.

Badshahi Mosque. The imperial or the Badshahi Mosque is across the courtyard from Alamgiri Gate of the Lahore Fort. The Mosque which is made up entirely of red sand-stone was built by Emperor Auranzeb.

Garden Mosque is situated in the Kashmiri Bazar. It was built in 1753 A.D. by Nawab Syed Bhikari Khan, who was Deputy Governor of Lahore.

Shrines and Mausoleums. The famous mausoleum of Panjab are: Shrines of Data Barbar, tomb of Iqbal, Mausoleum of Jehangir, tomb of Nur Jehan and tomb of Anarkali.

SINDH

Sindh, the land of Saints has many things to see, including the capital of Karachi. Karachi has many places to visit like Wazir Manson, Quaid-i-Azam Mausoleum, Jinnah Bagh, Impress Market, Clifton Beach and Fundland. It has many recreation and sport places like water sports. Apart from Karachi, Sindh has many places to visit.

Bhanbore. This archaeological site is believed to be the ancient port city of Debul which flourished in the 8th century A.D. Bhabore is 64 km from Karachi.

Haleji Lake is the largest bird sanctuary near Karachi where every winter millions of migratory birds come from as far as Siberia.

Makli Hill near Thatta has an extensive necropolis. It is said to contain more than one million graves spread over an area of 15� km. contain

Shah Hehan's Mosque is representative of Muslim architecture. It was built in 1647 A.D. by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan. It's 93 domes, designed for acoustical purpose, carry the voice of Imam to all parts of the Mosque.

Keenjhar Lake. This beautiful man-made lake is a combination of two natural lakes called Sunheri and Keenjhar. It is 150 km away from Karachi.

Moenjidaro. On the West Bank of the Indus River, 580 km from Karachi lies Moenjodaro, an archaeological site, considered one of the earliest and most developed of urban civilization. Apart from above, Sindh has many places to visit like Hyderabad, Manchar Lake, Rani Kot Fort, Thar, Sukkur, Rohri and Gorakh.

(Submitted by the Pakistani Embassy to Kazakhstan)

Minar-e-Pakistan, Lahore, built at the plase where Pakistan Resolution was passed in 1940


Invitation to an Exhibition

Witnesses of the 20th century

Aigul MYRZATAI

ALMATY, March 20

(THE GLOBE)

In the Umar Gallery, an exhibition of three artists � Kamil Shayakhmetov, Nina Ginzburg and Vladislav Yelagin is being held.

The exposition by Kamil Shayakhmetov, a People's Artist of Kazakhstan, is worthy of special interest for connoisseurs of portraits. It is also worth mentioning that a significant part of the exhibition is devoted to landscape sketches because for the painter, nature is not just an object of the universe, but also a creative goal, during the pursuit of which he explores the unique harmony between the human mind and the environment.

Works by Nina Ginzburg are popular both in the republic and abroad. Her canvases are in private collections in Germany, the Czech republic and other countries.

The photo exposition by Vladislav Yelagin is also worth special attention. He was born in 1939 and is a designer-engineer. He has taken a great interest in the arts since his childhood, when his father, a professional painter taught him this the basics.

Young Vladislav's keenness has become the style of both his life and creations. When he studied at the Polytechnic Institute, he organised photo exhibitions there; then became a member of a photo club and started to participate in club, national and international exhibitions. His photos are published in local and foreign magazines.

According to the author, the exhibition is the culmination of his age, 60 years of life. Objectively speaking, the 60 photos are a peculiar projection of the spiritual anxiety and insights of the engineer-artist, who has witnessed much of the 20th century.


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