Happy Diwali!

Happy Diwali!

 

A Pakistani Hindu girl adjusts earthen lamps to decorate an area of her house to celebrate Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2012 in Karachi, Pakistan. Hindus across the country are celebrating Diwali, where people decorate their homes with light and set off firecrackers. Photo: Shakil Adil, Associated Press

Hindus at the last day celebrations of Diwali (Deepwali) at Krishna Temple in Saddar Rawalpindi. PHOTO: MUHAMMAD JAVAID / EXPRESS TRIBUNE

The Italian Archaeological Mission on Wednesday discovered an ancient cemetery dating back thousands of years at Odigram, Swat — a site experts believe was built between 1500 BC to 500 BC.

The newly-discovered vessels symbolise simple but competent craft — ranging from copper pins used to fix hair to small perfume bottles. A total of 23 graves have been excavated at the site that seems to be an ancient cemetery, indicating that they belonged to the pre-Buddhist era.

One grave contained two bodies placed strategically such that they face each other. The region was identified as Ora by Aurel Stein, the city where Alexander the Great fought one of his battles.

Archaeologists have caught another glimpse of Swat’s glorious past — revealing secrets of a civilisation that have been buried in the earth for over 3,000 years. PHOTO: FAZAL KHALIQ/ THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE

 Abbottabad is situated 50 kilometres northeast of the capital Islamabad. PHOTO: ANEEK KAYANI

Like much of the mountainous northern areas, tourism is one of the important sources of income in Abbottabad. PHOTO: ANEEK KAYANI

Bahawalpur

A round up of events this week:

 

Alyzeh and Natasha. Saba showcases her Eid collection at La Chantal, Lahore. PHOTO COURTESY SAVVY PR AND EVENTS

Saad and Zainab. Propaganda Pakistan launches at Vogue Towers in Lahore. PHOTO COURTESY BILAL MUKHTAR EVENTS & PR

A man rides a cow-cart as fog shrouds the road on the outskirts of Faisalabad on November 14, 2012. PHOTO: REUTERS

The phantom soldiers of the Pakistan Army

The phantom soldiers of the Pakistan Army---

commandos of the Special Services Group (SSG).

Folk Architectural Style at Lok Virsa Islamabad

Folk Architectural Style at Lok Virsa Islamabad

A monument made up of salt bricks at the world's second-largest salt mine in Khewra. Khewra Salt Mines are a major tourist attraction in Pakistan, drawing up to 250,000 visitors a year

A jockey holds on during traditional bull racing in Mari village on March 11. Dozens of bulls took part in a racing day in front of ten thousand spectators.

Pakistani Hindu women celebrate the Holi festival in Karachi on March 7. Holi, the festival of colors, is observed at the end of winter on the last full moon day of the lunar month.

A man fixes wooden grips on knives at a workshop in Quetta, Jan. 26.

A round up of events this week:

 

Maham. Versace launches its perfume, Yellow Diamond, in Karachi. PHOTO COURTESY CATALYST PR

 

 

 

 

Shazdeh. Versace launches its perfume, Yellow Diamond, in Karachi. PHOTO COURTESY CATALYST PR

Kalash, Pakistan, 1981

Kalash, Pakistan, 1981

A winter's fire stokes old talks among the men folk. Their low chairs with seats of woven rawhide distinguish Kalash from neighbors, who prefer sitting on the ground. A grandson dozes in a shaft of sunlight from the doorway of this sole room of a house that as many as a dozen Kalash call home.

National Geographic Magazine. Vol. 160, No. 4, October 1981, pgs. 458-473, Pakistan's Kalash: People of Fire and Fervor

© Steve McCurry / Magnum Photos

Pen-friends across the Pak-India border

Pen-friends across the Pak-India border


CAP, Routes2Roots launched 'Exchange for Change' involving 2,400 children from Delhi, Mumbai, Lahore, Karachi.


Ali Askari, a student of Grade 9 at Links School, holds a postcard he is sending to India through the program. PHOTO: CITIZENS ARCHIVE OF PAKISTAN

Students in Pakistan holding letters which they will send across the border. PHOTO: CITIZENS ARCHIVE OF PAKISTAN

Students in India express joy over the exchange program. PHOTO: CITIZENS ARCHIVE OF PAKISTAN

Students at The City School, PAF Chapter, writing letters to be sent to India. PHOTO: CITIZENS ARCHIVE OF PAKISTAN

Postcard which arrived from India sent by a student named Shantanu. PHOTO: CITIZENS ARCHIVE OF PAKISTAN

Front and rear shots of a postcard sent by Misbah Shaaib from Pakistan. Shaaib is a grade 9 student at Links School. PHOTO: CITIZENS ARCHIVE OF PAKISTAN




A round-up of events this week:

Uzma. Pepsi hosts the T20 World Cup Pakistan versus India match screening in Lahore. PHOTO COURTESY BILAL MUKHTAR AND PR

Girls want education too!

The Pakistani girl Malala shot in the head by the Taliban terroists for wanting an education stood up today in a remarkable comeback from her near fatal wounds.

Jisay allah rakhay usay kon chakhay (whoever God wants to save, no one can harm her/him.)

 

Girls want education too!

The Express Tribune

According to a recent UNESCO report, Pakistan has the 2nd largest number of out-of-school girls. PHOTO: AFP

A girl Lyba is photographed sitting with other students, while learning how to recite the Holy Quran, at the Jamia Binoria Al-Alamia Seminary Islamic Study School in Karachi. PHOTO: REUTERS

Teacher Noorzia Khan, 16, writes letters from Kalasha alphabet on blackboard during a lesson at Kalasha Dur school and community centre in Brun village located in Bumboret Kalash valley. PHOTO: REUTERS

Six-year-old Mozama leads a class in a lesson at the Rabia Beulkhi School for girls in Quetta's Hazaratown. PHOTO: REUTERS

Internally displaced girls fleeing a military offensive in the Swat valley hold classes inside a tent at an UNHCR camp in the outskirts of Peshawar. PHOTO: REUTERS

Girls attend a lesson outside a damaged classroom at Government Girls Primary School No 3 which was bombed by suspected militants in Swabi located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, November 15, 2011. PHOTO: REUTERS

Girls learn how to use computers in a school in Swat. PHOTO: FAZAL KHALIQ/ EXPRESS

 

Nation prays for Malala Yousafzai

Nation prays for Malala Yousafzai

Taliban’s cowardly attack on child activist Malala Yousafzai has spark country wide anger. Across Pakistan prayers, demonstration and rallies were held to show support for Malala.

 

Pakistani students pray for the early recovery of child activist Malala Yousafzai at a school in Mingora on October 11, 2012.

Peshawar, students of Frontier College pray for Malala Yousafzai.

Pakistani civil society activists carry placards with a photograph of the gunshot victim Malala Yousafzai as they shout ant-Taliban slogans during a protest rally against the assassination attempt on Malala Yousafzai, in Islamabad on October 10, 2012

Pakistani civil society activists carry candles to pay tribute to gunshot victim Malala Yousafzai and protest against her assassination attempt, in Lahore on October 10, 2012.

Pakistani civil society activists and journalists carry candles and photographs of gunshot victim Malala Yousafzai during a protest against the assassination attempt on Malala Yousafzai, in Islamabad on October 11, 2012

Pakistani pray for the early recovery of child activist Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in the head in a Taliban assassination attempt, during a Friday prayers in Quetta on October 12, 2012.

Pakistani demonstrators carry candles during a protest against the assassination attempt on Malala Yousafzai, in Karachi on October 11, 2012.

Pakistani carry photographs of the gunshot victim Malala Yousafzai during a protest rally against her assassination attempt, in Lahore on October 10, 2012.