Miani Sahib Graveyard
The Miani Sahib Graveyard (Punjabi, Urdu: میانی صاحب قبرستان) is the largest graveyard in the city of Lahore, Pakistan. It is in the centre of Lahore.[1] Its origins date back to the Mughal era, making it one of the oldest graveyards in the region.
Miani Sahib Graveyard occupies around 1,206 kilometers square (60 hectares, 149 acres) of land and has a capacity of approximately 300,000 graves.[2] It is administered by the Miani Sahib Graveyard Committee (MSGC), which was formed on 31 May 1962.[3]
The graveyard is currently facing an acute shortage of space for new burials. As of 2009, the government of Punjab has started an anti-encroachment drive to restore the space occupied illegally.[4][5] People of Lahore visit this graveyard to offer 'fateha' (a religious prayer) and lay flowers on the graves of their loved ones. In 2013, generally speaking, people of Lahore feel that the graveyard is being neglected for maintenance and needs some local government attention.[6]
Gravediggers at the cemetery routinely bury the bodies of the newly deceased in plots that go unvisited.[1]
References
- https://www.economist.com/news/asia/21727124-it-may-make-death-unequal-life-pakistan-inaugurates-luxury-graveyard Pakistan inaugurates a luxury graveyard
- "Miani Sahib Graveyard, Lahore - TripAdvisor". tripadvisor.com.
- "THE MIANI SAHIB GRAVEYARD ORDINANCE, 1962". Punjablaws.gov.pk. 7 June 1962. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
- "Miani Sahib Graveyard to be cleared of encroachments". The Nation newspaper. 11 February 2009. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
- "Lahore: Government to remove encroachments from Miani Sahib Graveyard". eproperty.pk. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
- Newspaper, From the (8 February 2013). "Miani Sahib neglected".