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| Shahdara, Islamabad |
Adjacent to Islamabad is the famous city of Rawalpindi commonly known as Pindi among locals. Rich in history Pindi is the 4th biggest city in Pakistan by population. This city is linked to major cities of Pakistan with Motor Way (M2), G.T Road (Grand Truck) and to China by Karakorum Highway. It too behaves as a center point for the travelers who wish to go to Northern Area, Kashmir or Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region. At that place are numerous expensive as well as budget hotels and restaurants, so one can continue effectively in Pindi for whatever length of time that one regard. There are various places in Pindi that can be visited like Raja Bazar, Lal-kothi, Pindi Food Street, Nawaz Sharif Park, Liaqat Bagh and many other places.
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| Islamabad, Zoo |
On
return from a marvelous tour to the North End of Pakistan, till Khunjerab Pass,
we stayed in Rawalpindi for three days before getting back to our home city
Karachi. We have been to Pindi many times and visited many places both in
Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Yesterday we went to the picnic at a marvelous spot
in Islamabad up on the Margala hills, known as Shahdara. And today we mutually
determined to drop our day at Pakistan Monument & Museum in Islamabad.
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| Kunjerab Pass, Gilgit-Baltistan |
After eating up our breakfast and preparing for the trip we all hopped in the car. We started travelling to Islamabad and after going a few kilometers we entered the most progress and well-developed city of Pakistan the Islamabad. The wide roads surrounded by lots of trees make this city more fascinating and attractive. Moving around along the beautiful Kashmir Highway toward the Rawal Lake and after crossing zero point interchange there is a link road leading to Pakistan Monument & Museum.
The Pakistan Monument & Museum is situated inside the Shakar Parian National Park, famous for Parade ground, which hosts the Pakistan Day Parade every year on 23 March. Also situated nearby are Lok Virsa Heritage Museum, Cultural Complex, Pakistan Museum of Natural History, Chilla Gah Hazrat Baba Farid Gunj Shakar, Arts & Craft Village and Rose & Jasmine Garden. But our today’s destination is only Pakistan Monument & Museum.
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| Pakistan Monument |
After
parking our car in the large parking lot of Pakistan Monument, we started to
move toward the main gate. After paying a nominal entrance fee, we entered the
park area filled with dozens of trees and grassy land. There are loads of
flowering plants in the field spreading the heavenly scent in the gentle wind. Inauguration
on 23 March 2007, the complex covered an area of 2.8 hectares and symbolize
national unity. In front of us is a large structure shaped as a blooming flower
petal and the inner walls of the petals inscribed with the outlines of Lahore
Fort, Badshahi Mosque, Khyber Pass and Minar-e-Pakistan. We went up the stairs
and move closer to the structure, the structure has four main petals that
represent the four provinces (Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, and
Sindh), while the three smaller petals represent the three territories
(Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Kashmir and the Tribal Areas). The inner walls of the petals
are decorated with murals. The central platform is made in the shape of a
five-pointed star which is surrounded by a water body. The structure also hosts
metallic crescent surrounding the star and is inscribed with sayings of Quaid-e-Azam
Muhammad Ali Jinnah and poetry of Allama Iqbal.
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| Pakistan Monument |
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| Pakistan Monument |
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Pakistan Monument
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Pakistan Monument
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At
the rear of this structure is an open area that provides a bird’s eye view of
the Islamabad city. The Faisal Mosque, the Centaurus Mall Building and the Margala Hills create a
stunning vista of the city, nearly the whole of Islamabad city is clearly
visible from this spot. Later on having some photographic session at this place
and after appreciating the work and concept of the construction, we climbed
down back to the park.
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Pakistan Monument Surrounding
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| Centaurus Mall view from Pakistan Monument |
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Pakistan Monument Surrounding
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Faisal Mosque view from Pakistan Monument
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Housed in the region of Pakistan Monument is the Museum building. Popular for its wax sculptures this museum also includes a reference library, audio-visual archive, conference hall and a 62-seat capacity auditorium known as Panorama Hall. At that place is an extra but a nominal fee to get into the museum. After paying that fee we all entered the museum. The museum is split up into different rooms and at the entrance is a big hallway where the sculpture of Quaid-e-Azam and his sister riding a horse cart is located. This sculpture is made of wax and shows the moment when the Quaid-e-Azam with his beloved sister arrived for the opening ceremony of the State Bank of Pakistan on July 1, 1948. At the back of this sculpture is a very beautiful water fountain.
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| Pakistan Museum |
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| Pakistan Museum |
After capturing some photos with this sculpture we entered a room that houses metallic sculpture of different personalities who played a really significant role in the independence of Pakistan. These personalities include Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Allama Muhammad Iqbal, Mohtarma Fatimah Jinnah, Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan, Chudhari Rehmat Ali and others. In this room also is wall engraved pictures of these personalities.
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| Pakistan Museum |
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| Pakistan Museum |
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| Pakistan Museum |
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| Add caption |
The next room houses the sculptures and paintings of the history of India, leading off with the Gandhara dynasty and the Hindu culture, the Gautama Budha and Buddhist culture. The history of Salauddin Ayubi, Shair Shah Suri, Zaheer Uddin Muhammad Babar and the Mughal era is represented in the adjacent room. The British era and the freedom movement from the British rule are displayed in the room after that, followed by the pictures of Aligarh University and sculpture of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, the person who emphasize on the importance of modern education for the development of Muslims.
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| Pakistan Museum |
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| Pakistan Museum |
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| Pakistan Museum |
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| Pakistan Museum |
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Pakistan Museum
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| Pakistan Museum |
Completing the tour of the remaining parts we came back out in the Park. We open the floor mat on the grassy ground and sat there to enjoy the environment and the kids took up playing. The pleasant smell and the pollution free environment, make us feel so refreshing and energized. Me and my cousin went to the nearby canteen to buy some refreshment and tea. After finishing the tea and adoring this fabulous place we started our return journey toward Rawalpindi. As my wife want to do some shopping we went to Saddar Bazar in Rawalpindi before returning back to our home at Shelley Valley.
Travel
and change of place impart new vigor to the mind.-Seneca
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