Neela a village of chakwal

UBaiD neela

 Back in 490 BC Persian Empire’s Easterly boundary included present-day Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Baluchistan.

The Story of Khusrau, Shirin Farhad

The story of Khosrow, Shirin, is set in Persia, somewhere in the 10th century whenSeljuk Turks ruled the roost in the Muslim world,right up to Armenia.

Khusrau was an exiled Persian king, Shirin was an Armenian princess of exceptional beauty and Farhad was their royal stone sculptor.

Farad was a skilled royal builder, who was pretty sought after in those days.

Khusrau was mesmerized by Shirin’s beauty and asked for her hand in marriage so that she becomes a good luck charm for his impending conquest of the Persian throne.

Shirin politely declined the king in waiting and asked him to get the throne first, then check up on the offer.

Khusrau in the meantime married a roman queen and got Roman help in snatching back his throne.

In all this melee, Farhad, the royal mason, could not help falling for the gorgeous Armenian Shirin – and I do not blame him.

So now, Khusrau has his throne but not his lady.

Farhad has the lady’s heart, but not the power.

Khusrau did what any powerful man would do – sent the poor guy to dig a channel of milkacross a solid rock mountain, using sculpture tools.

Legend says that the mountains are Behistun, near Kermanshah, Iran.

Farhad, was so obsessed with his love interest that he, with a divine nudge, did manage to dig a channel of milk to the Persian King’s palace.

Khusrau seeing his plan fail, send a fake condolence letter to Farhad, falsely claiming that Shirin had killed herself.

Farhad, could not bear the loss of his beloved and committed suicide right inside the stream that he built.

Shirin, on hearing the sad news of Farhad’s passing, killed herself with Farhad’s sculpture tools.

Khusrau’s diabolic plan did not work and the rich a powerful could not buy love!

The moral of the story is that Love never fails.

Shirin Farhad Story in Baluchistan, Pakistan

This story had the making of an epic blockbuster, and it is no wonder it has survived 1000 years.

Punjabi and Balochi variant of this story is almost the same, except that the Baluch still revere the shrine as living saints.

The story had to be similar as Persian preachers have been spreading their message through fables in these areas for centuries.

What else is there to see at Neela Village Chakwal?

The people of Neela Dulla are very hospitable and friendly, unlike shrewd city folks.

Neela Village has a Hindu temple, an old Hindu Mansion, and the remains of a Palace fort.

This Neela village used to have its own Hindu population as well. They all left in 1947.

Hindu Temple of Neela village Chakwal

There is an odd-looking Hindu temple right at the center of Neela village that does not look like any Hindu temple I have seen in Pakistan.

The Neela Hindu Temple looks more like a narrow Victorian clock tower, but its spire was unmistakably Hindu.

There is a dilapidated old Mansion of some Hindu family that fled during the riots of the 1947 partition, right beside the Hindu temple.

British built a police station but was originally a fort-like palace.

This palace story could be true, as I found pot shards on the corners of this plateau that is now a police station.

Views from Top of Neela Hill

The views from the top of this mountain of Soan River and Neela Town were spectacular.

Inspringtime, crops of Saffron,Corn, and Olive light up the earth in different hues of green and yellow, which is easy on the eyes.

Seeing people wading across Soan River to their beautiful and peaceful land, with real and loving people, I realized why the legend of Shirin Farhad found traction here.

Then, the peaceful Soan River curving right under your feet in a U-turn looks marvelous under the Winter Sun.