Mohenjo Daro (Mound of Dead)

Mohenjo-Daro, or "Mound of Dead" is an ancient valley civilization city site in the province of Sindh, Pakistan. The city's original name is unknown. it was one of the largest settlements of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization, and one of the world's earliest major urban settlements, It Flourished between 2600 and 1900 BC. It was one of the largest settlements of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization, and one of the world's earliest major urban settlements.

Mohenjo Daro ((Courtesy GOOGLE IMAGES)

Mohenjo-daro is located in Larkana District on the right bank of the Indus River in Sindh, Pakistan, on a Pleistocene ridge in the middle of the flood plain of the Indus River Valley, around 28 kilometres from the town of Larkana. The ridge was prominent during the time of the Indus Valley Civilization, allowing the city to stand above the surrounding plain, but the flooding of the river has since buried most of the ridge in deposited silt. The site occupies a central position between the Indus River and the Ghaggar-Hakra River. The Indus still flows to the east of the site, but the riverbed of the Ghaggar-Hakra on the western side is now dry.

Map (Courtesy GOOGLE IMAGES)

The ruins of the city remained undocumented for around 3,700 years until R. D. Banerji, an officer of the Archaeological Survey of India, visited the site in 1919-20, identifying the Buddhist stupa  to be there and finding a flint scraper which convinced him of the site's antiquity. This led to large-scale excavations of Mohenjo-daro led by Kashinath Narayan Dikshit in 1924-25, and John Marshall in 1925-26.  In the 1930s, major excavations were conducted at the site under the leadership of Marshall, D. K. Dikshitar and Ernest McKay. Further excavations were carried out in 1945 by Ahmad Hasan Dani and Mortimer Wheeler. The last major series of excavations were conducted in 1964 and 1965 by Dr. George F. Dales. After 1965 excavations were banned due to weathering damage to the exposed structures, and the only projects allowed at the site since have been salvage excavations, surface surveys, and conservation projects. However, in the 1980s, German and Italian survey groups led by Dr. Michael Jansen and Dr. Maurizio Tosi used less invasive archaeological techniques, such as architectural documentation, surface surveys, and localized probing, to gather further information about Mohenjo-Daro.

Faisal Mosque - Islamabad

The Faisal Mosque is the one of the largest mosque in Pakistan, located in the national capital city of Islamabad. It's the forth largest mosque in the world. The Faisal Mosque was named after the late King Faisal bin Abdul- Aziz of Saudi Arabia, who supported and financed the Pakistan government initiative to construct a National Mosques.

 

Completed in 1986, it was designed by Turkish architect Vedat Dalokay to be shaped like a desert Bedouin’s tent. The mosque's architecture is modern and unique, lacking both the traditional domes and arches of most other mosques around the world. The minarets borrow their design from Turkish tradition and are thin and pencil like.

 

The interior of the main tent-shaped hall is covered in white marble and decorated with mosaics, calligraphy by the Pakistani artist Sadeqain, and a spectacular Turkish-style chandelier.

 The Faisal Mosque has covered area of 5,000 m² (54,000 sq ft). It can accommodate 10,000 worshipers in its main prayer hall 24,000 in its porticoes, 40,000 in its courtyard, and another 200,000 in its adjoining grounds.

Entrance is from the east, where the prayer hall is fronted by a courtyard with porticoes. The International Islamic University was housed under the main courtyard, but recently relocated to a new campus.

Quaid-e-Azam Mausoleum.

Mazar-e-Quaid or Quaid-e-Azam Mausoleum, located in the center of the city Karachi (Capital of Sindh) is one of the famous-known place in Karachi. This Mazar was built in honor of Mohammad Ali Jinnah the Founder of Islamic Republic of Pakistan. He was the first Governor General of Pakistan.

This Mazar was designed by Architect Yahya Merchant and was completed in 1970's. There is a large park surrounded the Mazar with lots of fountains. Approx thousands of people visit Mazar each day, and specially on some special occasions like 23rd March(Pakistan Day), 14th August(Independence Day), 25th December(Quaid's Birthday) and on other different occasions and on national holidays.

Inside the Mausoleum, there is a beautiful ornamental chandelier hanged in the tomb which was gifted by the Chinese, which shows that chinese also has an emotional attachment with Quaid-e-Azam.

Not only Quaid-e-Azam but some other prominent leader graves are also located near the mausoleum. Which includes graves of

• “Quaid-e-Millat”. Liaqat Ali Khan, the first Prime Minister of Pakistan, 
• Her wife and great woman leader Begum Ra'ana Liaquat Ali Khan, 
• Quaid-e-Azam sister Miss Fatima Jinnah. and some other prominent leaders.

In addition to tomb, there is a small museum located next to the mausoleum which consists of some things used by Quaid-e-Azam.

When the tomb of Quaid was under construction, one could see this actual grave after going down a staircase. Later, the gate was locked and had to be opened for interested visitors. Now it is permanently locked.