Mecca pilgrimage:

Millions of Muslims are embarking on the traditional annual holy pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

The first of more than two million people have already arrived ahead of this year's Hajj pilgrimage, which peaks next month.

The Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam. Muslims are expected to make the trip at least once in their lifetime, if they can.

This year's Hajj has attracted added attention with the participation of one of the world's oldest men, Habib Miyan, who is reportedly 132 years old.

Masjid-i-Tuba

Fountains stand in a calm pool in front of the Defense Housing Society Mosque, or Masjid-i-Tuba, in Karachi, Pakistan. ca. 1970s-1990s Karachi, Sind, Pakistan

Karachi - City of Lights

Cosmopolitan Karachi (Kurrachee), the largest and the most populous city (12 million) of Pakistan and the capital of the Sindh province, presents an interesting and colorful combination of the old and new. It is the former capital of Pakistan and is situated on a beautiful natural harbor northwest of the Indus River Delta. The hub of a sprawling metropolitan area, the narrow twisting lanes and alleys of the old city throb with life along-side the wide metallic roads and elegant modern buildings. Within the city, talented artisans with age-old skills produce handicrafts of exquisite beauty.

Karachi offers a variety of pleasant attractions: wide sunny beaches, deep-sea fishing, yachting, golf and horse racing all-year round. Its restaurants provide a wide choice of Pakistani and Western cuisine. Its markets and bazaar offer and endless variety of exciting shopping including indigenous handicrafts, rugs and carpets of rare design and beauty.

Karachi's recorded history goes back to the 18th century when it was a small fishing village known as Kolachi. Karachi was a small fishing and trade center when it was captured in 1839 and subsequently annexed by the British. With the development of its harbor it gradually grew into a large city and an important center of trade and industry. Its selection as capital of Pakistan in 1947 added to its importance and tremendously boosted the rate of its growth and development.

Although the seat of Government has now been shifted to Islamabad, Karachi still remains the epicenter of commerce and industry, as it is chief transport, financial, commercial, prime banking center and manufacturing center. The city has an important Stock Exchange in the region. The architecture of Karachi blends western, eastern, and Muslim influences. Although the city is unplanned, residential districts have generally developed in concentric rings according to income levels.

It is the country's most important port, serving a large hinterland. The busiest port east of the Suez Canal. Most of the international trade of Pakistan and landlocked Afghanistan and Central Asian Republics pass through the city's busy modern ports i.e. Karachi Port-centered on the island of Kiamari and Port Qasim. Major roads and railways converge on the city, and the modern Quaid-e-Azam International Airport is a stopover and refueling point for intercontinental flights.

The many products manufactured in Karachi are steel, textiles, chemicals, refined petroleum, footwear, machinery, handicrafts, and processed food.

It is the country's most important port, serving a large hinterland. The busiest port east of the Suez Canal. Most of the international trade of Pakistan and landlocked Afghanistan and Central Asian Republics pass through the city's busy modern ports i.e. Karachi Port-centered on the island of Kiamari and Port Qasim. Major roads and railways converge on the city, and the modern Quaid-e-Azam International Airport is a stopover and refueling point for intercontinental flights.

Among the finest and premier educational institutions of the country there are the University of Karachi, NED University of Engineering and Technology, Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology, Agha Khan University, Hamdard University, Institute of Business Administration, Karachi Medical and Dental College, Jinnah Women University, Baqai Medical University, Textile University of Pakistan,

National University of Sciences and Technology (Pakistan Navy Engineering College), Southeastern University, Preston University, Adamsons University, SZABIST, FAST Institute of Computer Sciences, Usman Institute of Technology, Dow Medical College, Sindh Medical College, Fatima Jinnah Medical College, Dawood Engineering College, Government College of Technology, Indus Valley School of Arts, College of Business Management, Sindh Madressa tul Islam, Urdu College, Law Colleges and many more are located here.

The tomb of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan, is a well-known landmark besides this there are Mereweather Tower, D J College, Mohatta Palace, Hindu Gymkhana, Jehangir Kothari Parade, Saint Peters Cathedral, Memon Masjid, Defense Mosque, Satya Narain Temple, KMC Building, Habib Bank Plaza, Clifton's Fish House, Tomb of Hazrat Abdullah Shah Ghazi, Manora Island, Hawks Bay, Sandspit, French Beach, Paradise Point, Clifton, Harbor, Hub Dam, Cape Mount and Russian Beach for sight seeing.

Renovation of the historical Freemason Lodge initiated

KARACHI: The renovation of a hundred-year old historical Freemason Lodge Building has been initiated. The building is being renovated for the first time after it was constructed during the British rule in World War I.

As a symbol of great history and an important era, the building deserves to be preserved in its original shape. Sources revealed that after the renovation and restoration of the Freemason Lodge Building, the Sindh government is planning to establish the first ever wildlife museum of the province at a government level on the ground floor of the building. They also stated that on the first floor, the government is planning to establish a library to facilitate researchers and wildlife enthusiasts. The history of the Freemason Lodge reveals that the Freemason’s Trust originally built this building before World War I. For the locals, this building always remained a mystery and they use to call it ‘Jadoo Ghar’ or the House of Magic.


Standing adjacent to the Governor House near the Karachi Press Club, the Freemason Lodge is currently used as an office by the Sindh Wildlife Department Conservator.

The Sindh Department of antiquities initiated a project renovate the building. In the first phase of the renovation, the extra plaster and the thick paint layers that were put on the building will be removed. The Sindh Antiquities Department has planned to remove all the additional cemented structures, wooden cabins, rooms and all the small changes that have been made to the structure during the last few decades so as to restore the original shape of the historical building.

A structure made from bamboo poles is seen encasing the building so that laborers can climb up on it and scratch away the many layers of paint and extra plaster that is not part of the original construction. Wild grass and plants that began to grow around and on the base of the building walls has been removed and cleared.

Habib Bank Plaza, Karachi.

Karachi is the capital of the province Sind. Karachi was the Capital of Pakistan before Islamabad. It is also considered as the commercial capital of Pakistan. It is the largest city a sprawling place of bazaars, hi-tech electronic shops, scurf infested older buildings and modish new hotels. Its sights are spread far and wide so a taxi or rickshaw is necessary to travel between them. On your right is one of the tallest and famous building of Pakistan, Habib Bank Plaza.

KARACHI CANTONMENT RAILWAY STATION (Frere St. Station, 1898)

During the late 1890's, there was an outbreak of Bubonic Plague in the subcontinent, which reached Bombay from China in the autumn of 1896. By December, an epidemic was declared in Karachi. Therefore, not a lot of construction activity was seen in the city during this period; the only two important buildings from this time being the Lady Dufferin Hospital, and the Cantonment Railway Station of Karachi. (ref. Lari 1996)

The Cantonment Railway Station, earlier known as the Frere Street Station, was one of the many buildings created by the Public Works Department. The building was finished by 1898 and cost a total of Rs. 80,000. The architecture of the building is modest compared to the train stations of Bombay, however, it uses an elegant classical architectural style and is an impressively sized building. The central projecting entrance section employs large Renaissance doorways and Roman arches crowned by a triangular pediment. The facade is arcaded and at both ends of the building, there are sections capped with Romanesque gables.

Empress Market Cleaning

Some nominal cleaning of the empress market is going on currently. Hopefully, the CDGK will shift the wholesale market out of this beautiful colonial public structure and away from the city center.
Yasmeen Lari (Lari Associates) were given the contract on renovating the Empress Market by KMC back in the early 1990's. The plan was to have a vast pedestraianized, vehicle-free square in a most congested central district, with Empress Market (c. 1888) as its focal point. The surrounding existing shops would be housed in a sunken development, around open-to-sky atriums, at the rear of the historic structure. The project was to be completed in 1996, but never materialized.