Multan and Southern Punjab

Southern Punjab is a wide open land of farms, river plains and deserts. The climate is harsh; exposed to the elements, this region is warm in the winter and swelters in the hot dusty summer. Bound by the ruggedly barren Balochistan to the southwest, the lonely, scorching Cholistan desert to the southeast, and the pancake-flat agricultural plains stretching north to Lahore, Multan has for long been somewhat isolated from the rest of Punjab.

Perhaps as a result, this region has traditionally been less prosperous than northern Punjab. However, the tyranny
of the local environs seems to have bred a unique culture of hospitality, ascetic religious devotees, and a culinary tradition which makes use of the ingredients available; nuts, dates, and mangoes are all associated with this area.

Multan is studded with scores of shrines paying tribute to pirs; masters, adherents and preachers of the mystical Sufi interpretation of Islam, earning the metropolis the title of “the city of saints”.

Beyond Multan lie deserted forts like Derawar, speck-on-the-map fortressed Shujabad, and the colourful constructions of Uch Sharif and Bhong standing seemingly near-forgotten amid sugarcane fields.

Sublime religious traditions, time- honoured hospitality and the best mangoes you’ll ever taste… add to this the local tongue of Seraiki (a sort of crossover between Punjabi and rural Sindhi), and this region could be one of Pakistan’s most rewarding for the culturally-inclined.