Multan Things to Do

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Situated on top of a small hillock, behind the old ruins of Multan Fort, the Mazar and its majestic dome is the first landmark visible when you enter proper Multan.

Shah Rukn-e-Alam (1251-1335) was a Sufi saint in Multan. He was revered by his followers, and to this date thousands of pilgrims from all over Pakistan come to Multan to pay homage. He was the grandson and successor of another great Sufi Shaikh Baha-Ud-Din Zakariya, whose Mazar is also near this one.

The Mazar itself is a wonderful piece of architecture. It was made for someone else and that family donated this to this Sufi. The dome is more than 50 feet in diameter, and height of over 100 feet. The entire complex is built with red bricks and decorated with wonderful woodwork.

Normally there are hundreds of devotees at any time, we were warned that normally there are many beggars and hundreds of devotees around the tomb at any given time, and it becomes quite difficult to enter the premises. However when we visited this tomb, there were hardly anyone (I do not want to write the reason here, but if you want to know why, send me an email).

BTW if any history buffs know why there are two signs of David on the door, please do let me know? (see picture label Sign of David on Door)

I had seen several Mazar’s pictures with pigeons flying around, but there were none for me. They were all lazily perched on the ground. I waited for several minutes to see if they will fly around but none did. Totally disappointing!

But I wanted a picture of pigeons in front of the Mazar.

So I picked up some small pebbles, and threw towards the pigeons, startling them, and I got my shot. Please note no pigeons were harmed because when they saw me swinging my arm to throw the stones, they all got the message and started circling the Mazar.

Multan is known as City of Saints, and this is evident by the number of Masuleums, Mazars, Dargas, or tombs situated in this city. Some of them are listed below.

1 Hazrat Baha-ud-Din Zakaria
2 Shah Rukn-i-Alam
3 Shah Shams Sabzwari
4 Shah Gardez
5 Musa Pak Shaheed
6 Hazrat Hafiz Muhammad Jamal Multani
7 Bibi Pak Daman
8 Hazrat Sher Shah Syed
9 Hazrat Makhdoom Abdul Rashid Haqqani

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The Multan Fort on a high mound of earth which separated it from the old branch of the river Ravi. There are now only remnant of this old fort, which was considered as one of the best fort (defense wise) built in the sub-continent. The fort was destroyed when the British took over.

During its haydays the fort walls were was almost 1.6 km long.

The fort is in the middle of the city, close to Multan Cricket Club (MCC) next to Shah Rukn-e-Alam’s Mazar.

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Given below is list of must to visit shrines in Multan
1.Shrine B.B Pak Damman
2.Shrine Hameed-ud-Din Hakim
3.Shrine Qutab-al-quteeb'Moj Daryan'
4.Shrine-Syed Pir Sakhi Shah Hasan Prwana
5.Shrine-Qazi Qutab-ud-Din Kashani
6.Shrine-Syed Hasan Kanjzee
7.Shrine-Hazarat Shah Dana Shaheed
8.Shrine-Abu Hassan Hafiz Jamal ud Din"Musa Pak Shaheed"
9.Shrine-Hazarat Shah Kamal Qadri
10.Shine-Hafiz Muhammad Jamal Chisti Nazami
11.Shine-Pir Chup Wardi Waly
12.Shine-Mollana Hamid Ali Khan Naqshbandi
13.Shine-Allama Syed Ahmad Saeed Kazmi
14.Shine-Hazarat Khawaja Awais Khagga
15.Shrine-Pir Sayed Wali Muhammad Shah(Chadar Wali Sarkar)
16.Shrine-Hazatar Gul Shah

Hi Awais,

All the destinations in Pakistan, they've their own attraction or somethijng very special in that area, likewise in Hunza, you can't find the shrines of the sufi hermits, or in Multan, the mountains like Nanga parbat or Kalash tribes in Lahore?

Multan, Medina-tul-awlia, the city of saints, famous all over the world, because of these shrines.

Bon voyage,

Imran Schah
The photos of my adventures in Pakistan
http://www.flickr.com/photos/imranthetrekker

The famous mosques of Multan are Wali Mohammad Mosque in Chowk Bazar built by Ali Muhammad Khakwani in 1758 A.D., Mosque Phulhatt in Chowk Bazar built by Emperor Farrukh Siyar, Baqarabadi Mosque built by Baqar Khan in 1720 A.D. and the beautiful Eidgah Mosque built by Nawab Abdul Samad Khan in 1735 A.D.

One of the foremost scholars of Islam, Shaikh Baha-ud-din Zakria's shrine is located in the fort. He was born in 1170 A.D, Studied in Turan and Iran and received instructions from Shaikh Shahab-ud-Din Suharwardi at Baghdad. The saint built himself his Mausoleum himself. It has a unique style of architecture of that
period. It also houses the graves of most of the eminent members of the Qureshi
family, including that of Nawab Muzaffar Khan.

The Mausoleum of Shah Rukn-e-Alam, the grandson of Shaikh Bahauddin Zakaria, is also located near the main gate of the Multan fort. He was also a man of great religious and political influence during the Tuhglaq reign and was in Multan when it was visited by Ibn-e-Batuta. The Mausoleum was originally built by Emperor Ghayasud Din Tughlaq but was given up by his son Muhammad Tughlaq in favour of Shah Rukn-e-Alam. Besides its religious importance, the Mausoleum has a unique architectural value. Its some is considered to be the second largest in the world. Fort was ravaged by the British to avenge the murder of one Mr. Agnew in 1848. At present it is survived by some parts of the old rampart and bastions besides the shrines of Hazrat Bahauddin Zakaria and Shah Rukn-e-Alam, an obelisk in memory of Agnew and a Hindu temple. The famous Qasim Bagh and a stadium are located within the walls of the fort. A panoramic view of Multan City can be had from the highest point in the fort.

Ghanta Ghar whch is situated in the city center is the city government head quarter.

(not a great picture, taken from a moving car)

This Masjid is a marvelous piece of architecture of multan.it is a very beautiful masjid and must to visit place of Multran city