Friday, February 8, 2019

Pakistan: Your Travel Destination 2019 - Part VII - Pir Ghaib (Bolan), Balochistan


Balochistan province, that is the largest province of Pakistan as far land mass is concerned, is mostly an arid desert and mountainous. There are large tracts of treeless in most of the province due to lack of rainfall. But wherever there is water available we see lush green orchards, apple gardens and water falls. 

Pir Ghaib is one such place which located amid barren rocky mountains is a cool refreshing place with a waterfall and blue green water pond, surrounded by tall palm trees and lush green bushes. This serves an attractive tourist resort, specially in summers, when the area around is baked by strong sun rays. Pir Ghaib waterfalls is in fact a beautiful cascade located some 70 kilometers away from the province's capital Quetta.

Pir Ghaib literary means a pious man who disappeared or an invisible saint. No one is really sure why the place is so called but folklore legends relate that a saint and his sister had come to the area to convince the locals who worshiped fire to convert to the true faith of Islam. When the local king came to know of the presence of these two "dis-tractors" he dispatched a contingent to catch or kill the duo. When being persuaded in a gorge, the two decided to split lest being caught together.

[Photo: Facebook/Hunza]
While the sister followed the gorge, the saint fled into this arid landscape with the army in hot pursuit. And found his way up the Bolan mountain but reached a dead end. It is said that he started clawing at the mountain and when soldier almost reached him, the saint vanished inside the rock. And from that point a stream sprang in a form of waterfall that cascaded down into the area and filled it up and formed a pond. Due to presence of water, vegetation started to grow and soon became an oasis. Since that day, this oasis is called Pir Ghaib - the Invisible Saint.

And the amazing part of the folklore is that till date no one has been able to locate the source of water that oozed out of the rocks !!



There is a grave downstream the gorge there is a grave which is said to be the that of invisible Saint’s sister, known as Bibi Nani, located under a bridge by the rocky bank of a seasonal stream.
There are no details available as to how and when did Bibi Nani die or how was she buried at this place. Although not a saint herself, her grave is revered as such. In mid October, 1986, a huge flood struck the area and destroyed much of the habitats, roads and bridges not even spared. But astonishingly the grave of Bibi Nani was spared. Due to this fact, the grave of the Bibi assumes much reverence by the people of the area.

Many tourists from adjoining areas and as far away as Quetta visit this place, specially in summers to enjoy the cold water of the oasis, take a dip or just walk around or sit under the shade of the palm trees. Unfortunately there are no facilities available except for a small shop selling eatables and chips. Tourists normally carry their meals or cook here in the absence of an eatery.

You may like to watch this informative video below which describes the history and tourist facilities available around the place and how to get to this oasis from Quetta:
If you happen to be in Quetta, do take a time out and visit Pir Ghaib - it is something that you will really love it. 
Photo: Pir Ghaib (Screenshot) - Photo Grave Bibi Nani | References |  1 |  2 | 3 | 4 | 
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