Pakistan Painting Postcard - Girls Sitting Together

Hi Pals!
Here's just another painting postcard from Pakistan to share with you.

I really like the smile on the face of the girl in pink dress. With the backdrop of Malala Yousafzai fame, this postcard becomes a real special one.
Just in case you do not know Malala Yousafzai's story, here's a re-cap.
Malala Yousafzai was a small girl living in Swat Valley which was under occupation of Taliban terrorists some years ago. WhileTalibans opposed girls' education, Malala raised her voice as a 9-year old and started writing her online diary at BBC Urdu Website, by the nick name of Gul Makai.

Malala Yousafzai

After a long and strenuous fight, Pakistan Army cleared Swat Valleyfrom terrorist elements and life came back to normal. Malala Yousafzai became a national symbol of girl education and Pakistan'sthen Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani re-named Pakistan Peace Award as Malala Peace Award.

In Oct 2012, some Taliban miscreants stopped Malala's school van and fired at them from point blank ranges. Malala suffered a head injury along with some of her friends too. She remained under-treatment in Pakistan and then in England.

Lately Malala Yousafzai was invited by United Nations to address the Youth General Assembly on the eve of her 16th birthday.United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and the Ex-British PM Gordon Brown were also there to wish her a happy birthday.

Malala Yousafzai has definitely become a symbol of struggle against the oppressors and a source of inspiration for everyone around the globe.

Although the above postcard does not have any direct link withMalala's story but still these cute girls and their smiles make me think of them as small Malalas.

May God bless them with endless smiles and very happy lives. Amen!

Pakistan Postcard Altit Fort, Hunza, Gilgit Baltistan

Pakistan Postcard Badshahi Mosque, Lahore, Punjab

China: Laoshan Velodrome, Beijing Olympics 2008

This Olympics Stadium Postcard shows Laoshan Velodrome, which is one of the venues for Beijing Olympics 2008. It is one of the 10 official postcards issued on the occasion by State Postal Bureau in 2007.

The Laoshan Velodrome hosted track cycling events during the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. It has a capacity of 6,000 spectators. A 250-meter oval shaped track is prepared for cycling events. The total area covered by the Velodrome is 33,320 square metres.

The Laoshan Velodrome is being used for international and national cycling competitions and training after the Olympic Games. The velodrome was designed by Schuermann Architects, designers of the ADT Event Center in Carson, CA and the UCI Cycling Center in Aigle, Switzerland.

The following prepaid stamp was printed on the postcard.

Any thoughts on the Postcard or the Laoshan Velodrome design are welcome!

Historic Center Of Yaroslavl, Russia - A Fairy Tale Land

At first sight, I thought that this fairy tale castle is depicted from Narnia or bears a close resemblance with Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry - as mentioned in Harry Potter Books by JK Rowling, but the actual story is slightly different.

 The postcard is from the beautiful city of Yaroslavl in Russia, which is a major commercial center in the area since 11th century. The castle shown on the card is absolutely awesome. The clouds and the yellowish trees make the scenery even more charismatic. It is infact a painting, but I believe that the actual scenery would be as beautiful as it is shown here.
You can read more about the Historic Areas of Yaroslavl in Russia on my UNESCO Sites Blog, as it is also a famous UNESCO World Heritage Site in Russia.

Lake Piso, Liberia

A nice gift from a lovely brother. Thank you Adeel Bhai for this nice postcard from Liberia. Its a view postcard with a very nice scenic view of Lake Piso in Liberia. Lake Piso is also known as Lake Pisuand Fisherman's Lake. It is a oblong tidallagoon in Grand Cape Mount County in Western Liberia. Located close to the town of Robertsport, it is the largest lake in Liberia with an area of 103 sq km. 

The name of the lake originates from a local term which means"Pigeon's Hole" - A reference to the flocks of pigeons that once came to Lake Piso to drink water.

The postcard will also help me to add to the Postcard Friendship Friday at another friend's blog.

Best Regards.

The Great Mosque Of Herat, Afghanistan

Here is another amazing, unique, gorgeous and hard-to-find postcard from a hard-to-find country Afghanistan. Afghanistan is located in the North-West of my beloved country Pakistan. Because of the decades long fighting in the country, millions of Afghans have migrated to Pakistan and most of the country has turned to ruins.  There are hardly any collectors or swappers left in the country.

The Afghanistan postcard features the beautiful "Great Mosque of Herat" or "Friday Mosque of Herat". Herat is a city located in Western Afghanistan and because of its fertile land, Herat is traditionally known for its wine. Its is the 2nd largest city of Afghanistan after Kabul. Thecity of Herat was also sumbitted as one of the properties on the tentative list for registeration asUNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004.

The back of the above Afghanistan postcard shows that the postcard was published in 2001 by Afghan Art & Culture Saloon (AACS) in Kabul, Afghanistan. It is my first postcard from Afghanistan on the blog. I have some others as well including a beautiful Afghan postcard of a Buddha Statue in Bamiyan Valley, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage site. I will soon be sharing that postcard as well with you. If any of you want any Afghanistan Postcards for their collection, I can give it a try to find some for them."Which one" remains an answered question till the time when any of you need it. ;)

Does anyone of you want a postcard from Afghanistan for your collection???

The construction work on the present Great Mosque of Herat was started initially by Ghurid ruler Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad b. Sam in 1200AD and afterwards completed by his successor and brother Shihab al-Din. In 13th centuryCengiz Khan pillaged the province and the building fell to ruin. Rebuilding and renovations work/ programs were undertaken by the Kart rulers in 1306AD and again after the devastating earthquake in 1364AD.  It was repeatedly repaired, renovated by various rulers until a new mosque was built in Herat and the importance of the old mosque was over-shadowed. Little was left of the "Great Mosque of Herat" by the mid of twentieth century when a major reconstruction and renovation work was carried out after1945AD. The mosque was expanded and decorated in its present shape. 

I hope that I have done some justice with this beautiful piece of architecture by searching hard and adding the above details about it.

Water Skiing Resort, Kaptai Lake, East Pakistan (Bangladesh)

Here I have a beautiful vintage post card from East Pakistan (NowBangladesh). The postcard shows a beautiful scene of water skiingat Lake Kaptai. It is a very old card as the back of the card reads:"Issued by Department of Tourism, Government of Pakistan, Club Road, Karachi". 

East Pakistan got separated from West Pakistan(Presently"Pakistan") and became Bangladesh in 1971. So it obviously is a postcard from 1971 or pre-1971 era. I don't know whether the waterski resort still exists there or not? Can a friend from Bangladesh enlighten all of us on the issue???

Kaptai Lake is a man-made lake in South-eastern Bangladesh. The H-shaped lake was created as a result of building of Kaptai Dam on theKamaphuli River. The dam construction project started in 1956 and finished in 1962. The palace of the king ofthe Chakmas also came under water as a result of filling of the dam.

North Korea, Flight Tower In Pyongyang

Hi!

Here is another postcard from a hard-to-find country. What a treat! A postcard from North Korea. The postcard shows a joy ride and the back of the postcard mentions the name of the ride as "Flight Tower" in Pyongyang, which is the capital of North Korea. I could not find more information onthis beautiful ride.

How many of you have a postcard from North Korea??? 

Pakistan: Fasting Buddha in Lahore Museum

Here is a marvellous postcard from Pakistan. A Pakistani postcard featuring the statue of "Fasting Buddha" or"StarvingBuddha" from 2nd century AD placed in Lahore Museum, Lahore. 

The GandharaFasting Buddha(Siddharatha)statue in Lahore Museum is considered to be the masterpiece of the earliest world and is given special importance. According to the legend, 

"The young prince Siddharatha left his palace insearch of enlightenment and practised for six years such severe austerities and intense mental concentration that his beautiful body withered away to skin and bones. Ultimately he attained enlightenment at the age of thirty five and became known as the Buddha - "The enlightened one". This resolve was illustrated for the first time in Gandhara art. This so called statue of Fasting Siddharatha ranks not only as the finest specimen of Gandhara Art, but also as one of the rarest antiquities of the earliest world."

In 1999, Pakistan Post also issued a set of 2 stamps featuring the Fasting Buddha on 21 July 1999. I will show you the FDC of the stamps in the near future.

Lahore Museum(photo above) is considered as one of the major museums in South Asia and was established in1894 in Lahore, Pakistan. Here is an interesting fact about Lahore Museum - 

Rudyard Kipling's father John Lockwood Kipling, was one of the famous curators of Lahore Museum and the famous novel Kim was set in the vicinity of this museum.

Lahore Museum exhibits the recorded history of thesubcontinent. Part of the collection was removed toIndia after Partition but this is still the biggest and themost impressive museum in Pakistan. The museum has20 galleries with items dating from the Stone age to the20th century. It is famous for its display of Gandharan sculpture (especially the fasting Buddha), manuscripts,Qurans, paintngs, carpets and Islamic art. The Museum also contains some fine specimens of Mughal and Sikhdoor-ways, wood-work and contains a large collection of paintings dating back to the Mughal, Sikh and British eras.

Another View Of Al-Masjid Al-Haraam, Mecca, Saudi Arabia

Here is another viewof Al-Masjid Al-Haraam in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

This post card is from Saudi Arabia and basically it featuresthe dome and minaret of Al-Masa'a. It is the third postcard with the same masjid in fact.

After this I will be uploading other postcards as well.

Love.

Al-Masjid Al-Haram (Holy Mosque), Mecca, Saudi Arabia

Hello and Assalam-o-Alaikum!

Here is my first post card for the blog.

I chose this nice piece from my little postcard collection as my first here. The postcard features the World's largest mosque and the holiest place for the Muslim World. It is also the prime destination of the Hajj pilgrimage.

The mosque complex covers an area of 356,800 square meters and can accommodate up to 820,000 worshipers during the Hajj.

The Haram was built in the 7th century and has been modified, rebuilt, and expanded on a regular basis ever since. Major expansions took place in the 1980s and further work is going on today.

The mosque is built around Holy Kaa'ba or qibla which is considered to be the home of Allah (Almighty God) on Earth. So all Muslims around the globe say their prayers facing towards Holy Kaa'ba. The Holy Mosque is the only mosque that has no qibla direction, since Muslims pray facing the Kaa'ba in the central courtyard. I mean to say that the direction like West, East or North are not specified like in any other mosque but the worshippers face the qibla for their prayers.

I planned to start posting post cards a little later but I am posting my first postcardon the request of a fellow collector Marie who is organizing an event on her blog by the name of 'Postcard Friendship Friday'. So today on Friday, 30th of January 2009, I post this postcard as my first on the blog.

I hope that all of you will like it.

Best Regards

The Magnificent Fasting Buddha FDC - Gandahara Civilization; Pakistan

Issued on 21 July 1999, this beautiful First Day Cover (FDC) is awesome. The two different views of the FASTING BUDDHA - Siddharatha are shown on two stamps of Rs 7 denomination each. The set forms part of Archeological Heritage of Pakistan Collection.

Holy Kaa'ba In Al-Masjid Al-Haraam, Mecca, Saudi Arabia

Here is another postcard from my collection. I have kept this post card since I was a child. This piece of collection was sent to my father by one of his friends Mr Shahid Naseem more than 20 years ago. The card was sent as a greeting card on the Eid day.

It is a 3-D sort of a card. I do not know exactly what such cards are called and I would appreciate if some of you can help me. Basically the card shows TWO different views of Holy Kaa'ba - A closed photo and a distant one. Both can be viewed by slightly moving or tilting the postcard's front side. (It was difficult to scan both images separately but one can clearly make out both the photos from the uploaded image). While a distant image is clearer in the picture, a closer look of the Kaa'ba's building can be observed towards left side of the postcard.

Although the card features the photos of Holy Kaa'ba which is located in Saudi Arabia, interestingly the postcard is "Made in Japan". On the back of the postcard, it states "Wonder Co., Tokyo, Made in Japan". I would also be grateful for some friends who can clear whether this postcard should be counted in postcard collection from Saudi Arabia or from Japan. Its manufactured in Japan but posted from Saudi Arabia.

I can also send a postcard from Afghanistan(Made in Afghanistan with landscapes or pictures of Afghanistan) to interested collectors with Pakistani Stamps for swap. Anyone interested?

Best Regard.