Jinnah Park () is an
amusement
Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or animal actively maintains the experience, and is associated with enjoyment, happiness, laughter and pleasure. It is an emotion with posi ...
and
public park
An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to re ...
located on
Airport Road in the high-security
Chaklala Cantonment
Chaklala is a major suburban town of Rawalpindi in the Punjab province of Pakistan.
It is situated astride the Airport Road, to the east of Grand Trunk Road on the main railway line. The town has its own railway station Chaklala Railway Station w ...
suburb of
Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan's ...
, Pakistan. It is the town's primary amusement park and covers an area of approximately . Initial plans for its development began as early as 1995 and it was opened in 2006.
It was named after Quaid-e-Azam
Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Muhammad Ali Jinnah (, ; born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 1876 – 11 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the ...
, the founder and the first
Governor-General of Pakistan
The governor-general of Pakistan ( ur, ) was the representative of the Pakistani monarch in the Dominion of Pakistan, established by the Indian Independence Act 1947. The office of governor-general was abolished when Pakistan became an Islami ...
. Sculptures of Jinnah and his family name are placed at the park's main entrance.
History
The site for the park was previously occupied by the maximum security
District Jail Rawalpindi
District Jail Rawalpindi was a prominent jail in Rawalpindi, Pakistan located opposite Rawalpindi District Courts. It was established in 1882 on an area of . The Jail was inherited by the Punjab Prisons Department besides 18 other Jails after ...
which opened in 1882.
Former president and prime minister of Pakistan,
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Zulfikar (or Zulfiqar) Ali Bhutto ( ur, , sd, ذوالفقار علي ڀٽو; 5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979), also known as Quaid-e-Awam ("the People's Leader"), was a Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the fourth ...
was notably imprisoned here before being executed on 4 April 1979. The exact spot on site, where the gallows once stood is unknown. The prison was demolished in 1988 after the completion of construction of
Central Jail Rawalpindi
Central Jail Rawalpindi (also known as Adiala Jail) is a prominent prison in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
History
The Central Jail Rawalpindi was built from the late 1970s and early 1980s during the military regime of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, aft ...
, commonly known as Adyala Jail, in 1986.
The construction of the park began in 1995, when
Rawalpindi Development Authority
Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) (Urdu: راولپنڈی ڈویلپمنٹ اتھارٹی) is a government sector corporation and authority responsible for providing Municipal and Town Services in Rawalpindi City, a city in the Punjab, Pakis ...
(RDA) tasked
Capital Development Authority A Capital Development Authority is a special sort of entity found in various countries that is concerned with the municipal development of the capital city or capital territory of that country. Examples include:
*Capital Development Authority (Isla ...
(CDA) to build the park. In 2004, the incomplete project was passed on to
Pakistan Army
The Pakistan Army (, ) is the Army, land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the partition of India, Partition of British India, wh ...
's
X Corps 10th Corps, Tenth Corps, or X Corps may refer to:
France
* 10th Army Corps (France)
* X Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars
Germany
* X Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army
* ...
and after facing delays, it finally opened in 2006. RDA spent at least on the project.
Attractions
Jinnah Park houses Pakistan's first
multiplex
Multiplex may refer to:
* Multiplex (automobile), a former American car make
* Multiplex (comics), a DC comic book supervillain
* Multiplex (company), a global contracting and development company
* Multiplex (assay), a biological assay which measur ...
called "Cinepax", the first one by the company of the same name. It has a
McDonald's Restaurant
McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hamburger st ...
which offers both
counter service
The foodservice (US English) or catering (British English) industry includes the businesses, institutions, and companies which prepare meals outside the home. It includes restaurants, school and hospital cafeterias, catering operations, and man ...
, with both indoor and outdoor seating available, and
Drive-Thru
A drive-through or drive-thru (a sensational spelling of the word ''through''), is a type of take-out service provided by a business that allows customers to purchase products without leaving their cars. The format was pioneered in the United ...
service, 24 hours a day. It also houses a PlayPlace – an indoor
playground
A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people ...
. The park has another restaurant called Diva, a
frozen yogurt
Frozen yogurt (also known as frogurt or by the tradename Froyo; ) is a frozen dessert made with yogurt and sometimes other dairy and non-dairy products. Frozen yogurt is a frozen product containing the same basic ingredients as ice cream, but ...
and
gelato
Gelato (; ) is the common word in Italian for all kinds of ice cream. In English, it specifically refers to a frozen dessert of Italian origin. Artisanal gelato in Italy generally contains 6%–9% butterfat, which is lower than other styles o ...
chain shop called "Frutti5",
Second Cup
Second Cup Café, is a Canadian restaurant chain, coffee retailer, and roaster which operates more than 190 cafes nationwide. Its headquarters are in Pierrefonds, Québec. Its stores sell hot and cold beverages, pastries, snacks, pre-packaged foo ...
,
Subway, Pappasallis (an
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
chain), and other restaurants and cafes. Tuck-shops are scattered throughout the park. "Cosmo Cash and Carry" retails a wide range of products at a discount, for example, groceries, meat and poultry,
frozen food
Freezing food preserves it from the time it is prepared to the time it is eaten. Since early times, farmers, fishermen, and trappers have preserved grains and produce in unheated buildings during the winter season. Freezing food slows decompositi ...
s, dairy products, health and beauty products, appliances etc. The park also has:
*
basketball court
In basketball, the basketball court is the playing surface, consisting of a rectangular floor, with baskets at each end. Indoor basketball courts are almost always made of polished wood, usually maple, with -high rims on each basket. Outdoor sur ...
s
*
cricket nets
Cricket nets are used by batters and bowlers to practice their cricketing techniques. They consist of a cricket pitch (natural or artificial) enclosed by netting on either side, behind, and optionally above. The bowling end is left open.
Net ...
*
football grounds
* a
ten-pin bowling
Ten-pin bowling is a type of bowling in which a bowler rolls a bowling ball down a wood or synthetic lane toward ten pins positioned evenly in four rows in an equilateral triangle. The objective is to knock down all ten pins on the first roll ...
club
* dedicated
playground
A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people ...
s
* a skating area with a
roller rink
A roller rink is a hard surface usually consisting of hardwood or concrete, used for roller skating or inline skating. This includes roller hockey, speed skating, roller derby, and individual recreational skating. Roller rinks can be located i ...
* an
open-air gym
* a
jogging
Jogging is a form of trotting or running at a slow or leisurely pace. The main intention is to increase physical fitness with less stress on the body than from faster running but more than walking, or to maintain a steady speed for longer periods ...
track
*
Motion Rides
Simulator rides are a type of amusement park or fairground ride, where the audience is shown a movie while their seats move to correspond to the action on screen.
There are many types but they fall into the heading of entertainment unlike the o ...
* various rides and games for children of all ages
* three
mosque
A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...
s or prayer areas
* sitting areas
The park is adorned with lawns, flowerbeds, fountains and sculptures. The park features four sky-high
pillars
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression (physical), compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column i ...
called "Unity Towers", one for each
province of Pakistan
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...
. The height of each tower represents the size of its province relative to the others, thus the one for
Balochistan
Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...
is the tallest of the four and the one for
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...
is the shortest. There are four
gazebo
A gazebo is a pavilion structure, sometimes octagonal or turret-shaped, often built in a park, garden or spacious public area. Some are used on occasions as bandstands.
Etymology
The etymology given by Oxford Dictionaries (website), Oxford D ...
s which are sculptured into enormous headgears, representative of the four provinces, while the seating arrangements underneath make use of the traditional ''
charpai
Charpai, Charpaya, Charpoy, Khat or Manji (Tamil :கட்டில் Hindi : चारपाई, Bengali: চারপায়া, Urdu: چارپائی, Saraiki, Punjabi; ''char'' "four" + ''paya'' "footed") is a traditional woven bed used ...
s'' and ''
gāo-takkiyas''.
During certain hours, the roller rink is open only for children or inexperienced
roller skaters
Roller skating is the act of traveling on surfaces with roller skates. It is a recreational activity, a sport, and a form of transportation. Roller rinks and skate parks are built for roller skating, though it also takes place on streets, sid ...
.
Gallery
Image:Jinnah Park-1.jpg, Jinnah park
Image:An old tree in Jinnah Park.jpg, An old tree at Jinnah Park's entrance
References
{{reflist
Parks in Pakistan
Rawalpindi District
Protected areas of Punjab, Pakistan
Memorials to Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Amusement parks in Pakistan
Skateparks