Bravo: Shahjehan Mosque

Bravo: Shahjehan Mosque: The interior Sindh and Punjab faced the biggest floods ever in 2010 and were once again hit in 2011 by torrential rains.  The monsoon wreck...

Bravo: Makli Hill

Bravo: Makli Hill: If you ask a Karachiite about his/her weekend traveling options, they would definitely answer something like, bowling, cinema, or some ...

Makli Hill

If you ask a Karachiet about his/her weekend traveling options, they would definitely answer something like, bowling, cinema, or some favorite eat out. We at Karachi are left with no more good options. But if one starts looking at different parts the city is surrounded with, you would be amazed. It’s just a matter of taking interest and commitment to create an adventure for you.

Likewise, we did the same thing. We planned and headed towards the Makli Hills, Thatta, which is located approximately 98 km east of Karachi. Today, it is notable for the Jamia Masjid built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan, and the Makli Tombs (15th - 17th centuries), a vast necropolis spread over 15.5 km, depicting exquisite specimens of architecture, stone carvings and glazed tile decorations.    

It is said to be one of the largest necropolises in the world, with a diameter of approximately 8km. Makli Hill is supposed to be the burial place of some 125,000 local rulers, Sufi saints and others. It is located on the outskirts of Thatta, the capital of lower Sind until the seventeenth century, in what is the southeastern province of present-day Pakistan. It was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1981 under the name, Historical Monuments of Thatta.

Some Useful Information 

 Still Standing 

Beauty

Standing Strong

We had a ball of a time visiting this beauty of history. It took us 2 hours of drive from Karachi and the best part is that you can find a lot of fuel retail outlets (Petrol, Diesel and CNG) during the journey, so no issues on much of the planning stuff. Just keep the usual gear along with water and food to keep away from the gastric issues upon return. Good Luck!

Shahjehan Mosque

The interior Sindh and Punjab faced the biggest floods ever in 2010 and were once again hit in 2011 by torrential rains. The monsoon wrecked havoc in Pakistan, especially in Sindh where the unprecedented torrential rains brought life to a standstill, causing severe damage to crops, livestock and human life. Badin and Nawabshah Districts of Sindh were the worst affected, as they received over 300 mm of rain in just a matter of hours causing canals and river banks to overflow. Several acres of rice, sugarcane and cotton crop were destroyed and people were displaced from their houses, forced to live under the open sky without proper shelter, food or medical facility.

Just to put the situation in perspective, what you see as river at both ends of the road is basically submerged crops all over.

Hence, we decided to extend a helping hand to these people and had a trip from Karachi till Badin District. During our Journey we decided to make a few stopovers i.e. Shahjehan Mosque and Makli. It was an exciting trip, we left from Karachi at 0700 hrs as we had to travel at a very low pace since we were in a 4x4 and had a truck loaded with dry food ration, which made us not going above 60 kph. It took us 5 hours to reach Badin and another 2 hours in distribution and off we headed backwards to Karachi. In our way back we stopped at ShahJehan Mosque at 1430 hrs. Upon my first look inside the Mosque, I fell in love with the domes, the Mehraabs and the overall making of the Mosque. On learning the history of construction of the mosque, I again fell in love the second time, which compelled me to visit this art of beauty the second time within the same month. The best part of the mosque is the 99 domes; which acts as a speaker in natural terms, as they Azaan recited at one part of the Dome can be heard on the other 98 domes i.e. surrounding the mosque. 

It was built in 1647, by the great Shahjehan with 300,000 Shahjehani rupees. It was one night when the great Shahjehan dreamed that he was building a mosque here in Thatta, while he was staying there during his travel. And so he started building this great mosque. The mosque can accommodate approximately 20,000 Muslims at a single time. 

Don't mind the mistake of 'Emperor' 

About the Mosque

Inside the Mosque