Wagah (Urdu: واہگہ) or Wagha (Shahmukhi Punjabi: واگھا) is a village and union council (UC 181) located in the Wahga Zone of, near Lahore City District, Pakistan.[1] The town is famous for the Wagah border ceremony and also serves as a goods transit terminal and a railway station between Pakistan and India.[2] Wahga is situated 600 metres (2,000 ft) west of the border and lies on the historic Grand Trunk Road between Lahore and Amritsar in India. The border is located 24 kilometres (15 mi) from Lahore and 32 kilometres (20 mi) from Amritsar. It is also 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) from the bordering village of Attari, India. The Wagah ceremony takes place every evening.

Wahga واہگہ
Union Council of Pakistan
Wahga, Pakistan
The evening flag lowering ceremony at the Pakistan–India international border near Wagah
Location of Wagah
Wahga Location in Pakistan
Coordinates: 31°36′17″N 74°34′23″E
Country	Pakistan
District	Lahore
Zone	Wahga
Union Council	181
Population
• Total	Cantonment village: 26,900 Municipal corporate council: 560,968 Border: 230,008
Time zone	UTC+5 (PKT)

Wagah-Attari border ceremony

Border crossing

The border crossing draws its name from Wahga village, near which the Radcliffe Line, the boundary demarcation line dividing India and Pakistan upon the Partition of British India, was drawn.[3] At the time of the independence in 1947, migrants from India entered Pakistan through this border crossing and vice versa. The Wagah railway station is 400 metres (1,300 ft) to the south and 100 metres (330 ft) from the border.

Border crossing ceremony

The Wagah-Attari border ceremony happens at the border gate, two hours before sunset each day.[3] The flag ceremony is conducted by the Pakistan Rangers and Indian Border Security Force (BSF), similar to the retreat ceremonies at Ganda Singh Wala/Hussainiwala border crossing and Mahavir/Sadqi International Parade Ground border crossing. A marching ceremony, known as the "Silly Walk ceremony", is conducted each evening along with the flag ceremony. The ceremony started in 1986 as an agreement of peace, although there was not a conflict at that time. Other Middle Eastern nations have adopted similar ceremonies in recent years.^{[citation needed]}

Wagah flag

Following India's erection of a 360 ft (110m) flagpole on their side of the border in Attari, in August 2017, a 400 ft (122m) Pakistani flag was installed on the Wagah side. The pole in pattadei is the largest in India.[4][5]

Gallery

• 
  The Pakistani gate at the border crossing
• 
  The Pakistani building at the border crossing, with a picture of Muhammad Ali Jinnah on top
• 
  Indian BSF at Wagah
• 
  Women personnel of Indian BSF at Wagah
• 
  Punjab Rangers at Waga
• 
  Milestone near Wagah Border
• 
  Paddy field near Wagah border

See also

• Wagha railway station
• Lahore–Wagah Branch Line
• 2014 Wagah border suicide attack
• Khyber Pass

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wagah.

Flag-lowering ceremony at Wagah border becomes more peaceful at Wikinews

• Michael Palin at the India-Pakistan border ceremony on the Pakistani side (from Himalaya with Michael Palin). BBCWorldwide video on YouTube.
• Sanjeev Bhaskar at the India-Pakistan border ceremony on the Indian side. BBCWorldwide video on YouTube.
• Pictures of independence's 60th anniversary celebration at Wagah Border

На других языках

[de] Wagah