“If there is to be heaven on earth, it is here” said the poignant Mughal king Akbar commenting on the picturesque landscape of Kashmir. Kashmir evokes awe-inspiring response from an incessant flurry of tourists. The place is covered with such natural splendor that it may take many lives to soak it entirely. With the mighty Himalayas looming over it and the hills of Karakoram and Nanda Devi adding to the effect, the place looks seeped in beauty. River Lidder, Jhelum and Chenab augment the impact of beauty.

The place is generally covered in snow. This drives the tourists crazy. Rose and tulip sprouting from the snow and brown and black horses trailing through the tuft of green grass make for a spectrum of colors. Tulip festival in Kashmir is rated by many as one of the most celebrated floral events of Asia. Lacs of tulips blossom and create rich paraphernalia exuding a riot of orange.

Gulmarg is a place which needs specific mention. The place is surrounded by snow-capped mountains and it has huge acreage of greenery spreading over it like the reverse canopy of sky. Owing to the long queue of tourists, the place has been blessed with resorts and hotel chains which deal in great accommodation and superior ethnic food.

Pahalgam is another must watch. The place also marks the point of commencement for those leaving for Amarnath pilgrimage.

Dal Lake stands at the cornerstone of history. It has a floating garden and a historic group of four trees called Char Chinar held over a high pedestal. The water is unlike that found in Lakes. It can get really tumultuous at times. Mughals had built beautiful gardens in the State. Kashmir houses the Shalimar and the Nishat gardens.

Unfortunately the place had been marred by violence and cross-border terrorist activities had piled the intrinsic beauty of it with loads of gore and bloodshed. Thankfully, the situation seems to have come in hand.

All images via Flickr's Creative Commons pool.

For much of history, Yunnan has been occupied by independent states. The first recorded state was Dian, which was a centralized state recognized by Chinese officials and which succeeded the tribal federation of the nomadic Kunmingese, who were known for their twin ponytails (Ma and Li, 1999, pp.166-7). At this time, no Han Chinese lived in Yunnan and the population was composed of a variety of Tibeto-Burman and Tai speaking peoples. It seems most likely that the former dominated the northern part of the province's territory and the latter the warmer southern parts. Over a period of centuries, the Tais migrated southwards to establish the kingdoms of Langxang, Lanna, Sukothai and Ahom in the Assam state of India (Schliesinger, 2001, p.39). Today, millions of people in Yunnan still speak dialects of Tai which are quite recognizable to Thai speaking people.

Dian was replaced by Nanchao ('Southern Prince') in the C8th CE and, in alliance with the then warlike and powerful Tibetans, Nanchao conquered wide swathes of Chinese and Vietnamese territory and was accounted a powerful neighbour with a strongly militaristic society and culturally advanced people. Poems by Nanchao leaders were included in Tang Dynasty Compilations of the Greatest Poetry. However, by the beginning of the C11th CE, Nanchao had become peaceable and inward looking, assisted by a series of intensely religious Buddhist kings who ruled from Dali. All of this changed as a result of the Mongol invasion of China, which was completed by Kublai Khan and resulted in the launching of an invasion of southern states, including Nanchao, which saw that state's obliteration in 1259 by Chinese Yuan Dynasty troops under Mongol commanders and powered by the feared Mongol horsemen. This caused the intensification of Tai migration southwards and the founding of the first independent Tai states in mainland Southeast Asia.

The Yuan invasion brought Yunnan more firmly into the Chinese economic system. Previously, Yunnanese rulers might be involved in the tributary system which required states to send goods in tribute to the Chinese imperial court and in return gain recognition and the right to trade at imperially sanctioned trade ports. Yunnan acted as a land bridge between both mainland Southeast Asia and India and lands further west which acted as an alternative to the maritime routes which were beholden to the monsoon winds and often dangerous, not least because of the prevalence of the pirates of the South China Sea. Now, the Mongols installed the Muslim Hui people in Yunnan to act as a ruling and administrative class. Resented by all Yunnanese, the Hui owed their survival to the threat of Yuan military intervention and this was intended to guarantee their loyalty. The Huis introduced the Yunnanese to Chinese institutions such as taxation and the imperial bureaucracy. The trading networks established by Yunnanese over the centuries therefore became in many cases cross-border ventures with one partner in China proper and others in non-Chinese states. Such trade would be subject to official approval and customs duties but, given the large amount of territory concerned, the difficult terrain covering most of it and the generally low density of population, it seems clear that a significant proportion of trade continued to be conducted unofficially and without bothering the authorities. An additional issue concerns the access to the enormous land empire of the Mongols, to which Yunnan was now directly connected. The Mongol Empire permitted traders to travel its roads, provided a more or less stable and equal legal system for trading and encouraged the exchange of ideas and goods. This was the period of Marco Polo and, although enormous difficulties still remained in moving from east to west or vice versa, the presence of stable if feared rulers did make it a little easier.

Resentment against the Huis and against external domination surfaced in the form of numerous rebellions over the years, with the most serious perhaps being the Panthay Revolt of the mid-C19th which resulted in the systematic butchering of many thousands of Huis and the introduction of an independent state which survived for more than a decade before imperial control could be installed once more (Atwill, 2003). During this period, the Imperial Court was increasingly concerned with dealing with the colonial western powers and having to resist the imposition of the opium trade and the signing of the Unequal Treaties. Britain had conquered Lower Burma and was exploring ways of using Upper Burma as a conduit to the China market, although this was a comparatively minor issue. Yunnan remained Chinese but something of a backwater. It had minerals and other natural resources but these were only lightly-exploited and much of the land was unsuitable for the kind of agriculture that Han Chinese farmers understood. Migration to Yunnan by Han Chinese was slow and other ethnic groups remained in the majority.

In the twentieth century, Yunnan offered its own heroes to the Communist Revolution and the nature of its resistance to external control differed little from resistance to earlier rulers. When Communist cadres spread the news of victory in the Civil War to the tribespeople living on the Burmese border, they were surprised to be used as human sacrifices used to fertilise the soil. Meanwhile, thousands of Chiang Kai-Shek's Kuomintang troops crossed the border into Northern Thailand, where they were permitted to stay in return for occasional military assistance to the Thai government. These movements of people intensified the strength and depth of cross-border trade networks involving Yunnan as the frontier of China. The presence of the KMT sympathizers now lent an additional motivation for maintaining the secrecy of these trade deals.

The decades following the Communist victory saw Yunnan largely cut off from mainland Southeast Asia, because of the closing of borders. Some border trade did continue, as indeed did some illegal trade but this was suppressed to some extent by the central government. Maoism stressed internal resources as a means of economic development and this meant few contacts with the rest of the world were necessary. One episode which did see external contact and which was related to Yunnan was the Sino-Vietnamese War of 1979, which led to the deaths of tens of thousands of people (Zhang, 2005). This brief but destructive war increased tensions between China and her neighbours, which were particularly high in those neighbours which felt themselves to be threatened internally by domestic Communist sympathizers, such as Thailand.

Somewhat paradoxically, 1979 was the same year in which Deng Xiaoping instituted the Open Door Policy which led to the emergence of a quasi-capitalist economic system coming into force alongside the monolithic Communist political system. Central planning remains important in the economic world and the open economy was first permitted in several Special Economic Zones (SEZs) concentrated on the southern coastal areas. The SEZ policy has been enormously successful and has led to the creation of a massive manufacturing base which has drawn in huge foreign and domestic investment as well as creating new classes of economically empowered elites.

In addition to the SEZ creation, the Open Door Policy also allowed for various forms of fiscal reform and investment policy, together with the changes made to the eastern provinces (Aksornsri, 2006). The very success of the policy led to further problems of growing income inequality and the creation of major slum areas surrounding areas where jobs have been created. Consequently, attempts were made to balance this growth by launching first the "Go West" policy and, more recently, the Northwest emphasis policy. It was the "Go West" policy which helped to stimulate development in Yunnan and elsewhere, as well as providing further incentives for Han Chinese to migrate to the province.

Offering Jummah (Friday) prayers in Al-Haram Mosque is a unique experience as almost complete population of Mecca city and surrounding areas reach the holy mosque to offer prayers. Once we went to Saudi Arabia the Friday prayers were held at 1 PM and we went to the mosque at 11 AM to get a place in the shade and to our luck we found place at the rear in the building. People who came late they got place in the outer courtyard and in the sun. Almost at each prayer mosque is full with people and is normally overcrowded at Fajar and Maghrib prayers.

Jumma prayers were lead by Imam Kaaba Sheikh Abdur Rehman Al Sadees and it was a unique experience to listen to the recitation of Holy Qurran during the prayers by him. His sweet voice had a charming effect on all attending the prayers. Best sound system has been installed in the mosque. The pitch and quality of the sound remains the same through out the mosque. We all family members were very happy to had availed this unique opportunity.

A good thing about Saudi Arabia is that at time of prayers all type of business comes to a halt, and shopkeepers close shops till the time prayers are offered. All buyers are encouraged to leave the shop at that time. During my stay at Saudi Arabia, except jewelry shops I never found any shop being locked, only shopkeeper would put a cloth in-front of his shop or at best put a chair or piece of cardboard in front. After prayers shops would open again, markets fills up with customers and shopping spree continues as usual.

I also found street vendors mostly from African countries selling low quality merchandise in the main streets after the prayers and they would flee in the narrow streets after seeing police patrol. These street vendors sell the same products that are available in the main shops but are of inferior quality, it seemed that China has taken over market every where. Mostly people from subcontinent and Africa having limited budget for shopping are often found buying things from these vendors. Mostly these people sell handbags, wrist watches, cut pieces of cloth and sweets

Some Important Statistics of Masjid-ul-Haram

For the benefit of the readers some important statistics of the mosque have been given for general knowledge.

Al Taneem (Masjid-e-Ayesha)

A beautiful mosque located in "Al Hil", and it is about four miles away from the Holy Kabba between Mecca and Medina, and it is the Miqat for Mecca people and those coming to Mecca whether for Hajj, Umrah or residency. This is quite a big mosque with superb facilities for bath, ablution and changing, available for pilgrims and those who come to offer regular prayers. Once we went there our taxi driver charged as 25 royals for a round trip and waiting for us outside the mosque.

Arafat

It is a very large yard outside the boundaries of Al Haram Mosque, and is situated about 25 kilometers from Mecca. The pilgrims go there on the 9th day of Zil-Hajj until the sunset, and then they go to Muzdalefah. Standing in Arafat is one of the main pillars of Hajj, and it is considered that those who do not stand in Arafat did not do Hajj. Several mountains from east, north and south surround Arafat, and the most famous of them is Al-Rahmat Mountain, on its foothill, the Holy Prophet, may the peace and blessing of Allah be upon him, stayed in his farewell Hajj. Here in this yard we found a lot of people selling low quality cheap priced merchandise, mostly these people were Africans and Pakistanis. We also found camels and horses available for riding, mostly foreigners were found riding these animals and price for a single ride was quite high.

Mina

A valley between two mountains east of Mecca, it is situated about five kilometers from Al Haram Mosque, where the Satan showed up three times to misguide Prophet Ibrahim (PBUH) from sacrificing his son. Here in Mina the Prophet Ibrahim (PBUH) threw stones at him, thus starting the obligation and ritual of stoning the three Jamrahs (stone pillars indicating places where Satan appeared). Muslims go to Mina to throw stones at these Jamrahs, slaughter animals, and stay there during the Hajj.

Al Muzdalefah

It is a place between Mina and Arafat where people come to, after standing in Arafat. It has a small mountain called Qazah that is shaped like a horn, where the Imam of the Hajj stands and speaks to the people as the Prophet did, and it is called Al Masha'r Al Haram, and a mosque has also been built here.

Masjid-e-Masha'r Al Haram

This Al Masha'r Al Haram mosque is also called Qazeh, and is the place where the Prophet (PBUH), gave his sermon, which became a must follow practice after that. The Imam of Hajj stands in the Masha'r and gives the Hajj sermon.

Birthplace Of The Holy Prophet (PBUH)

The house in which Holy Prophet (PBUH) was born is situated very near the Al Haram Mosque towards Marva gate. It is almost at a walking distance of 5 to 6 minutes from the main mosque and one can easily reach there. At present the house is not there but a public library has been established there. On the front door of the library a signboard has been erected indicated the name of the library as “Maktab Al Mecca Tul Mukarrama”.

Jannat Ul Mua'lla

It is the cemetery of the people of Mecca, and it is on the way to Mina, The grave of Um-Al-Momeneen Bibi Khadija (the first wife of Holy Prophet) and that of,Prophets's son Qasim, Asma Bint AbuBaker, Abu-Talib, Abdullah Bin Zubair, and other members of the Holy Prophet's family, may Allah be pleased with them all, are located in this cemetery. This cemetery is located near the Al Haram Mosque and one can easily go there to pay homage and respect to the people buried there. There are two sections of this cemetery. One section contains old graves while the other contains new graves and these are the graves of ordinary citizens. This cemetery is also known as Al-Hajun. The Holy Prophet (PBUH) used to visit it frequently. It is the 2nd holiest graveyard of Islam after Jannat-ul-Baqi (Baqi Graveyard).

After visiting Jannat ul Mualla we came back to our hotel and had rest, our trip was over in just above two hours time. We had also planned to visit the old graveyard of Mecca where daughters, young and new born, were buried alive in old ages but we both were not able to find enough courage to go there, therefore we cut our visit short and came back.

While at Madinah father and my self went towards Jannat-ul-Baqi (Baqi Graveyard) to offer prayers for the Muslims buried there. This graveyard holds equal importance for all sects of Islam therefore it is always crowded by pilgrims but the Saudi government has imposed timings for visiting the graveyard. The timings for the visit are from Fajar prayers till 10 AM and then from Asar prayers till half an hour before Maghrib prayers and women are not allowed to visit the graveyard. In the graveyard once we entered from the main gate we found that on right side the area was blocked with the help of iron grill and pilgrims were standing with the grill and praying, most of the pilgrims were of Iranian origin. We found out that beyond this grill there were the graves of Imam Hassan, Imam Zain ul Abideen, Imam Jaffer, Imam Baqir, Hazarat Abbass and Bibi Fatima (Daughter of Holy Prophet). We both prayed there and then moved to other parts of the graveyard. We there found graves of Wives, Daughters and son Ibrahim of Holy Prophet and then visited the grave of his aunts Safia and Atiqa.

We also visited graves of third Caliph Usman Bin Affan (RA) and Bibi Halima who was Holy Prophet's maid in the childhood. In Baqi graveyard policemen were also present both inside and outside the graveyard and were having a very keen eye on pilgrims. They did not allow people to take cameras inside the graveyard nor allowed any one to morn at the graves of Imams, still I saw people taking photographs of graves with mobile phones having cameras installed in them. Women normally stand with the wall of the graveyard and look through the holes in the wall; they are only permitted to stand with the wall and are strictly prohibited to enter the graveyard. There is no information available regarding graves or people who are buried there neither any Arabic speaking official would tell, if asked. Whatever information is available, it has been communicated through other pilgrims especially Iranians who have mostly fairly good knowledge about the graves of important people buried there.

Riaz-ul-Jannah

It is a saying of Holy Prophet (PBUH) that “There is garden of paradise in area between my house and my sermon giving place (Mimber) in the Mosque”. Most of the Islamic scholars agree that this place is a gift from All Mighty Allah to the Holy Prophet (PBUH) the way he gifted Prophet Ibrahim with two stones from Paradise and those stones were Hijra-e-Aswad (Black Stone) and Muqam-e-Ibrahim (Station of Ibrahim). It is important that one should strive to offer Nawafils at Riaz-ul-Jannah and if possible should offer regular prayers there. One should feel him-self lucky if he gets a chance to offer regular prayers there as the area is quite small and is always full with pilgrims and locals offering Nawafils there. By the grace of All Mighty Allah my father and myself offered Nawafils there twice. I there saw people pushing each other to get a place there during regular prayers, but in Prophet's Mosque one should avoid doing such things, which are equivalent to disrespecting Holy Prophet (PBUH) or his teachings.

Important Pillars of The Mosque.

Although the complete Mosque is holy but few pillars are important and have historical significance and these are as following :

1. Pillar of Hannana (Astawana Hannana).
2. Pillar of Ayesha (Astawana Ayesha).
3. Pillar of Mercy (Astawana Tooba)
4. Pillar of Sarrer (Astawana Sarrer)
5. Pillar of Ali (Astawana Ali)
6. Pillar of Delegations (Astawana Wafood)
7. Pillar of Morning rayers (Astawana Tahajad)
8. Station of Angel Jibrael (Gabriel) *
9. Station of the Companions (Sufha-e-Sahaba)*

*Both these places are important, but are not pillars.