PAKISTANI WEDDING

FOREIGNERS VISITING PAKISTAN

Sohail Abbas scored from a penalty corner in the 26th minute to give Pakistan the lead over Malaysia. —AFP Photo

GUANGZHOU: Pakistan bagged its third gold medal of the 2010 Asian Games when it defeated Malaysia 2-0 in the final in Guangzhou, China on Thursday.

Fired-up Pakistan annexed the Asian Games men’s hockey gold medal after 20 years with the final win.

Specialist drag-flicker Sohail Abbas gave Pakistan the lead in the 28th minute when he converted from a penalty corner. Abbas slammed home the ball in the top right corner in Pakistan’s second attack of the first half.

Striker Rehan Butt then consolidated the lead three minutes into the second half when he hit a close-range goal from open play (in the 38th minute).

It was Pakistan’s eighth Asiad hockey gold, ending a drought that stretched back to Beijing in 1990, and handed them their first major title since winning the World Cup in Sydney in 1994.

Pakistan ended the year on a high after a disappointing eight-month period in which they finished a humiliating 12th out of 12 at the World Cup in March and took sixth place at the Commonwealth Games in October.

The Pakistanis kneeled in prayer after the final whistle, before lifting their Dutch coach Michel van den Heuvel over their shoulders to loud applause from the stands.

Malaysia, often dubbed the sport’s perennial under-achievers, had to settle for silver in their maiden appearance in the title clash after winning the bronze medal six times.

The entire Malaysian team, barring Sikh player Baljit Singh, shaved their heads in a practice called ‘nazar’ to ward off evil spirits in the final, but failed to produce the spark that won them the semi-final against India.

Amin Rahim, whose two late goals sank India, faltered in all three penalty corners his team earned in the second half.

Malaysia had gone into the final as the only unbeaten team in the competition with four wins and a draw.

By winning the final, Pakistan has also confirmed it’s berth at the 2012 London Olympics.

PAKISTAN A WINNING NATION

The Badshahi Mosque (بادشاھی مسجد) or "Emperor's Mosque" was built in 1673 by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in Lahore, Pakistan. It is one of the city's best known landmarks and a major tourist attraction epitomising the beauty and grandeur of the Mughal era.
Capable of accommodating over 55,000 worshippers, Badshahi is the second largest mosque in Pakistan, after the Faisal Mosque in Islamabad. The design of the Badshahi Masjid is closely related to the Jama Masjid in Delhi, India, which was built in 1648 by Aurangzeb's father, Emperor Shah Jahan.
Badshah
was built in 1673 by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in Lahore, Pakistan. It is one of the city's best known landmarks and a major tourist attraction epitomising the beauty and grandeur of the Mughal era.
Capable of accommodating over 55,000 worshippers, Badshahi is the second largest mosque in Pakistan, after the Faisal Mosque in Islamabad. The design of the Badshahi Masjid is closely related to the Jama Masjid in Delhi, India, which was built in 1648 by Aurangzeb's father, Emperor Shah J
i Masjid is one of the famous locations where Qari Basit (1927-88), a widely acclaimed Egyptian Qur'anic Recitor, recited the Qur'an.

History

The mosque was built under the patronage of the sixth Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb Alamgir. It was completed in 1673 under the supervision of Aurangzeb's foster brother Muzaffar Hussain (also known as Fidaie Khan Koka) who was appointed governor of Lahore in May 1671 and held this post until 1675. He was also Master of Ordnance to the emperor.
The construction of the mosque took about two years, from May 1671 to April 1673. The mosque was built opposite the Lahore Fort, illustrating its stature in the Mughal Empire. In conjunction with the building of the mosque, a new gate was built at the fort, named Alamgiri Gate after the Emperor.
From 1852 onwards, piecemeal repairs were carried out under the supervision of the Badshahi Mosque Authority. Extensive repairs were carried out from 1939 to 1960 at a cost of about 4.8 million rupees, which brought the mosque to its original shape and condition. The blueprint for the repairs was prepared by the late architect Nawab Zen Yar Jang Bahadur.
In 2000, the repair work of marble inlay in the main vault was repaired under the supervision of Saleem Anjum Qureshi. On the occasion of the second Islamic Summit held at Lahore on February 22, 1974, thirty-nine heads of Muslim states offered their Friday prayers in the Badshahi Masjid, led by Maulana Abdul Qadir Azad, the 'Khatib' of the mosque.
Recently a small museum has also been added to the mosque complex, which contains relics of Muhammad (PBUH), his cousin  Hazrat Ali (S.A), and his daughter, Hazrat Fatima Zahra(S.A)

The mention of Katas Raj, located in the salt range 18 miles south of Chakwal, is found in Maha Bharat300 BC. The etymology of this place as narrated in the old edition of Tarikh-i-Jhelum (History of Jhelum) is that according to Brahaman belief, Shiv Devta wept so profusely on the death of his beloved wife Satti that two holy ponds – one at Pushkar of Ajmair and other at Katak Shell – came into being with his tears. In Sanskrit, the word  – Katak Shell – means chain of tears which later on was pronounced as ‘Katas’.

Minar-e-Pakistan

Minar-i-Pakistan is one of the most important national monuments of the country. The site where the Minar-e-Pakistan is built is the exact place where the historic Pakistan Resolution was passed in 1940. The Minar expresses the spirit of that movement. It is one of the few additions to a conglomeration of  old monumental structures that are in Lahore that were mostly built by  Mughals. The base of the structure takes the shape of a five point star and is enclosed within crescent shaped pools. The overall height is approximately sixty meters and the entire structure is constructed of reinforced concrete and furbished with stone and marble walls and floors.

Pakistan's new National Monument was built in the Shakarparian Hills, at the west viewpoint overlooking the capital city Islamabad, Pakistan.

Built with expensive red granite marble the shape is that of a blossoming flower, with petals.

The four main petals of the monument represent the four provinces of Pakistan: Baluchistan, North West Frontier Province, Punjab, and Sindh. In the large view you can see some murals of famous monuments which are located in the respective provinces. And the three smaller petals represent the Northern areas, Kashmir and the country’s tribal areas.