The Beauty of Swat Valley

Many people called Swat Valley as a paradise on earth. This valley is located 160 km/100 miles from Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. This valley is part of Hindu Kush Mountain range. The valley is also an integral part of the strategic and significant region where three parts of the Asian continent-South Asia, Central Asia and China, meet. The first historical mention of the valley goes back to a hymn of the Rigveda (sacred texts of Hinduism). According to the Rigveda, the name "Swat" came from the name of the river in this region (Suvastu river). Swat Valley is blessed with natural beauty and great tourism potential.

The Swat Valley was home to many Buddhist monasteries and stupas. This area was filled with fourteen hundred beautiful stupas and monasteries, which housed as many as 6,000 gold images of the Buddhist pantheon for worship and education. As we know, Swat Valley is part of Buddhist kingdom called Gandhara. The Kingdom of Gandhara lasted from c. the 6th century BCE to the 11th century CE. In the 6th century the kingdom was invaded and destroyed. Several Buddhist monks carried as much art as they could over into the valley of Swat. Buddhism flourished in Swat for another five centuries. In 1950s, Pakistani government in Swat built a museum to house and preserve the remaining Gandhara and other Buddhist artifacts. Another archaeological sites that you can visit on your tour to Swat Valley include Butakara 1 and
Butakara 2, Shingardar Stupa and Udegaram.

This valley is also blessed with strong ecotourism potential. Many people said that Swat Valley is an exact replica of the glorious Alps in Switzerland. We can enjoy Pine forest, snow-topped peaks, magnificent river (Ushu River),Water Fall (Manchar Water Fall), and many lakes here. Swat can truly be called the Valley of Lakes. Most of these lakes are hidden from the eyes of the common people due to their far-flung locations and take three to seven hours trekking to reach from the last village on the road. Here is several lake in Swat Valley : Bashigram lake, Daral lake, Mahodand Lake, Saidgai Lake, Kundal Lake, Izmis Lake, Spin Khwar Lake and Khapiro Lake. All of them has amazing scenery. When the night falls, the sky is extremely clear and the minutest star can be observed with naked eye.

The people of Swat are mainly Pakhtuns, Yousafzai's, Kohistanis and Gujars. In December 2008 most of the area was captured by the Taliban insurgency. Women are virtually dehumanized here. Whereas The valley had one of the highest women literacy rate as compared to the neighbouring districts, before captured by Taliban. Most journalists now estimate that there are somewhere around 3 million refugees from the Swat Valley. This chaotic situation also affected the economic activities of the valley. As we know, Eighty-five per cent of Swat's economy was dependent on such tourism. Swat today is a decidedly no-go area, after captured by Taliban. We hope, tourism will soon return here.

Sources:
http://www.valleyswat.net/articles/paradise_lost.html
http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Politics/07-Jun-2009/Swat-tourism-after-Taliban
http://jed.revolutia.info/2009/04/swat-valley-paradise-lost.html