Description
Islamabad:
The name Islamabad means City of Islam. It is derived from two words: “Islam” and “abad”.
“Islam” refers to the religion of Islam, Pakistan’s state religion, and
“abad” is a Persian suffix meaning cultivated place, indicating an inhabited place or city.
Islamabad Capital Territory, located on the Potohar Plateau of the northern Punjab region, is considered one of the earliest sites of human settlement in Asia. Some of the earliest Stone Age artefacts in the world have been found on the plateau, dating from 100,000 to 500,000 years ago. Rudimentary stones recovered from the terraces of the Soan River testify to the endeavors of early man in the inter-glacial period. Items of pottery and utensils dating back to prehistory have been found.
Islamabad is the capital city of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. It is the country’s ninth-most populous city with a population of over 1.2 million people. Built as a planned city in the 1960s and established in 1967, it replaced Karachi as Pakistan’s official national capital.
Islamabad holds the distinction of a leading city in the tourism industry of Pakistan. There are numerous and most attractive tour places in Islamabad, which are stunning and attract the tourists from all over the world. Islamabad is beautiful city of Pakistan better known for its most eye-catching places as:
Faisal Mosque:
The Faisal Mosque, is the national mosque of Pakistan, located in the capital city, Islamabad.
It is the fifth-largest mosque in the world, the largest mosque outside the Middle East, and the largest within South Asia, located on the foothills of Margalla Hills in Islamabad. It is named after the late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia.
Faisal Mosque was the largest mosque in the world from 1986 until 1993 when it was overtaken by the mosques in Saudi Arabia. Faisal Mosque is now the sixth largest mosque in the world in terms of capacity.
Construction of the mosque began in 1976 after a $28 million grant from Saudi King Faisal, whose name the mosque bears.
The unconventional design by Turkish architect Vedat Dalokay was selected after an international competition.
Without a typical dome, the mosque is shaped like a Bedouin tent, surrounded by four 260 feet (79 m) tall minarets.
Combined the structure covers an area of 33 acres (130,000 m2; 1,400,000 sq ft), the mosque dominates the landscape of Islamabad.
Shakarparian:
The word Shakar means “sweet or sugar” Parian. means a place to rest or an abode; people used these places as layover during long journeys.
It is a hill and a national park located near the Zero Point Interchange in Islamabad, Pakistan
Pakistan Monument
The Pakistan Monument is a national monument and heritage museum located on the western Shakarparian Hills in Islamabad, Pakistan. The monument was constructed to symbolize the unity of the Pakistani people. It is dedicated to the people of Pakistan who sacrificed their “today” for a better “tomorrow”.
The four large petals represent each of the four main cultures of Pakistan, the Punjabi, the Baloch, the Sindhi and the Pakhtun. The three smaller petals represent: the minorities, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. Its elevation makes the monument visible from across the Islamabad-Rawalpindi metropolitan area and is a popular tourist destination.
Pir Sohawa:
Pir Sohawa is a rapidly developing tourist resort located 17 kilometers (11 mi) from Islamabad on top of Margalla Hills. It has a 3000 plus ft elevation and is geographically part of Haripur District.
Like many other parts of the Margalla Hills, Haripur and Galyat mountains, Pir Sohawa sees rapid, uncontrolled development and encroachment on National Park land, which results in damages to the environment through pollution and heavy traffic.
On 6 January 2012, after almost six years, Pir Sohawa received few inches of snowfall.
Daman e koh:
Daman-e-Koh is a hilltop garden north of Islamabad. It is in the center of the Margalla Hills.
The name is a fusion of two Persian words, which collectively denote ‘foothills’.
It is about 2400 ft above sea level and about 500 ft above Islamabad.
Tourist treats are a popular attraction for monkeys Leopards are reported to descend from higher hills of Murree during the winter months.
Lake view Park:
This park is situated on the bank of the Rawal dam, which was built as an artificial water reservoir in 1962, to meet the requirement of drinking water for the twin cities. This was a marvelous project in the era of Ayub khan.
The park is also known as Rawal Lake due to the tale of the Rawal Dam. The main source of this dam is the Korang river.
Korang River, along with some other small streams coming from Margalla Hills.
Buddhist caves:
Located in Shah Allah Ditta a centuries-old village located at the foothills of the Margalla Hills in the Islamabad Capital Territory.
The caves boast Buddhist murals dating back 2,500 years.
The village is named after a Mughal period Dervish.
The village is believed to be more than seven hundred years old and lies on the route which was used to travel from Kabul to the Gandharan city of Taxila by Alexander the Great and Sher Shah Suri, while Mughal rulers and other emperors often passed through while traveling from Afghanistan to the Hindustan.
Murree:
Murree, a mountain resort city, located in the Galyat region of the Pir Panjal Range, within the Murree District of Punjab, Pakistan.
It forms the outskirts of the Islamabad-Rawalpindi metropolitan area.
It is just 60 km approx. (1 hr 20 min) drive from Islamabad.
It has average altitude of 2,291 metres (7,516 ft).
