My Faisalabad - The Asian Manchester

Once know as the Lyallpur, Faisalabad is now the hub of a booming cultural experimentation in Pakistan. Haute couture fashion fusion cooking and the traditional style of miniature painting depicted in postmodern art are transforming this old town into the epicenter of Eastern glamour, A trip to the Subcontinent’s most exciting city is an experience involving rich history, colorful culture and amazing food Faisalabad hospitality is legendary and there is a population of 2.6million helpful citizen to amuse and educate you on your journey.

After Karachi and Lahore, Faisalabad is the third largest city of Pakistan Faisalabad is bounded on the north by the district, of Gujranwala and Sheikhpura, on the east by Sahiwal district, on the south by Toba Tek Singh district and on the west by Jhang district, The river Ravi flows on the Eastern and the Chenab on the western bounded of the district.

The majority of Faisalabad are Punjab Muslims, but there is a small yet thriving other community as well you‘ll find throngs of village who come to the big city lining its streets in search of jobs, and the lucky few who find them work as cooks on street in search side food stalls shoe polishers or as newspaper vendors, who dart between cars and knock on tinted windows during red lights. The city of Faisalabad is not more than a century old and only a century back it was the center of keeping livestock in the area, The present day Faisalabad in late 19th century was known as” pakka marri” being a fertile area across river Chenab most of the caravans would a stop over in this general area when frequenting between Lahore and Jhang. When the British came into the area they converted the small town into a colony which was named as “ Chenab Canal Colony” in 1885 This small residential colony later turned into a bigger dwelling and was renamed as Lyall” pur after the name of Lt. General sir James B Lyall the then governor of Punjab. The main purpose of building this city was to establish a market to transport the agricultural produce from the fertile plains around the city.

Temperatures are mild to slightly chilly during winter months but can reach a scorching 120 degrees during late spring and summer when many of the city’s residents head to mari, a former British hill station in the north.

Faisalabad district is un-parallel for its agricultural productivity with cotton and wheat as its major crops beside grains and ghee (clarified butter) Faisalabad district is also famous for its fruit production, which include fruits like kinno (a cross bread between oranges) oranges fruiter mango and guava . No worth while wild life exists in the area except foxes wild boar and jackals. As for birds, partridges pigeons tilliar ,lal ,mena, quai, mallard and teal are found on the agricultural lands.

In any street you will find a congestion of motor rickshaws and bicycles standing bumper to tire urchins selling their wares to unsuspecting tourists at exorbitant prices, beggars with tin cups offering praise to Allah, horns and oaths fruit stalls with flies paan shops with small transmitter radios blasting the latest Hindi movie and songs, and many, many men, who lean against the beetle-nut stained walls or sit on their haunches puffing in a beedi a local hand-rolled cigarette as they watch the world go by.

People say you can never get tried of strolling the streets of Faisalabad, There is always something new to discover The map of Faisalabad is just the copy of British flag union jack designed by an architect Desmond young. The total area of 110 square Acres was used to build eight bazaars & clock tower on a round shape All these eight bazaars are connected with each other through another bazaar, which is called goal bazaar The clock tower was called the Ghanta Ghar” for which the gigantic clock as brought from Bombay on September 1st 1997, Layll pur was re-named Faisalabad in the memory of the slain king Faisal of Saudi Arabia who during his life time contributed a lot to bolster the Friendship between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

Faisalabad city has the distinction of being a seat of world famous Agricultural university Agricultural research institute, Nuclear institute for agricultural and Biology (NIAB) and national institute Nuclear institute for Agricultural and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE) Beside the Punjab Medical collage there are several other professional university of and collage like Hamadard university Faisalabad campus university of Faisalabad commerce college Textile college poly Technical college superior science college and many others, The Government college Faisalabad is one of the oldest educational institutions in Punjab founded in 1897 , The college has produce great sports men, academicians, politicians and notable civil and military officers. The institution has rendered significant services in the dissemination of knowledge

Beside agriculture, the agro-based industry of Faisalabad has made rapid strides for which it is usually referred to as the Manchester of Asia especially for its extensive development of textile industry, There are dozens of textile mills with other subsidiary units, As a rough estimate there are over 500 large industrial units out of which 328 are textile units 92 engineering units and 92 of chemicals and food processing units other industries hosiery carpet and rugs printing and publishing and pharmaceutical products etc. Besides the cottage industry has over the year expanded to some 12,000 units which include some 60,000 power loom factories.

When visiting Faisalabad one should forget to visit the Ghanta Ghar and the eight bazzars originating from it Jinnah Garden is also s beautiful park in the city commonly known as company baagh where the tomb of sir Charles James Layll is located At the Am Tex water fall the biggest artificial water fall of Asia is located D Ground is the busiest area in the evening where people usually come out in the evening for the outing.