The Minar-e-Pakistan is one of the most popular and must visit tourist attractions in Lahore. It is a tall concrete unique minaret located in Iqbal Park in Lahore, Pakistan. The Minar-e-Pakistan is about 60 meters or 198.5 feet in height. It is constructed of reinforced concrete, with the floors and walls rendered in stone and marble. The Minar-e-Pakistan is also known as the Minaret of Pakistan, Pakistan Tower or Pakistan Column. It is officially recognized as the National Monument of Pakistan.
The Minar-e-Pakistan is built on the site where on March 23, 1940, seven years before the formation of Pakistan, the Muslim League passed the Lahore Resolution. The Minar-e-Pakistan or "Pakistan Day Memorial" has been erected as a monument in commemoration of the Lahore Resolution in Iqbal Park. This was the first official declaration to establish a separate homeland for the Muslims living in the subcontinent. The government and Pakistan now celebrate this day as a national holiday each year under the name of Pakistan Day.
The Minar-e-Pakistan was designed by Murat Khan, an architect of Central Asian descent who was living in Pakistan at that time. He was a graduate of St. Petersburg University and originally belonged to Daghistan, USSR. It was built by "Mian Abdul Khaliq and Company", a famous construction company. The base of the tower or minar is raised approximately four meters from the ground.
The base platform is shaped like a five-pointed star and it encloses crescent shaped pools. It rises up to approximately 13 meters, forming a sculpted, flower-like base. From this point, the Minar-e-Pakistan tapers as it rises. There are 324 stairs to go to the top, besides a lift. There are ten marble slabs of seven feet tall and two feet in width, on with 99 names of Allah have been written on the base, all around the Minar. Other inscriptions include excerpts from the speeches of Mr. Muhammad Ali Jinnah and English, besides the National Anthem in Urdu and Bengali and a verse from Dr Allama Iqbal.
The Minar is a blend of Mughal and modern architecture and has been very boldly designed. The foundation stone was laid on 23 March 1960 by the governor West Pakistan Mr Akhtar Hussain in the Minto Park, which was later renamed as Iqbal Park, after poet Dr Iqbal who first gave the idea of a separate Muslim country for the Muslims of the British India.
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