Vehari

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Vehari (Urdu: وہاڑی) is a city in the Vehari District, Punjab, Pakistan.

It is located about 65 miles from the regional metropolis of Multan and about 10 miles from the southernmost of the five rivers (Sutlej) in Punjab, "the land of the five rivers" (The word Punjab comes from both the Punjabi language and the Persian Farsi languages, with the Punjabi "punj" meaning "five" and the Farsi "aab" meaning "water"). Vehari is to the north of the Sutlej river. A headworks of canals is located on this river near Luddan on the Luddan-Vehari canal providing irrigation water to both banks of the river, which includes the upper fringes of the Choolistan Desert.

Summers in Vehari are very hot, but the weather becomes much more pleasant between October and February. Light rainfall leaves the land generally arid and dusty, but the country's agricultural products include mangoes in the summer and guava and other citrus fruits in the winter. Vehari is considered the capital of cotton growing in this part of Pakistan, with dozens of cotton processing factories and cottonseed oil manufacturing plants, and sugarcane farming and processing is also common.

Vehari is located on the southern alternate route of both railway and road between Multan and Lahore, the capital of the Punjab province of Pakistan. The northern rout is the main route. Both of these routes run roughly in a northeasterly direction, almost parallel to each other and only 20 to 30 miles apart at any given point. A section of the railway between Multan and Lahore is electrified on the main line between Khanewal and Lahore. The Vehari route goes to Lahore through the famous religiously renowned city of Pakpattan, where the Sufi Saint Baba Freed Shakarganj is buried. Thousands of pilgrims come annually to Pakpattan for the saint's "Urs" celebration which include all sorts of festivities. Baba Fareed's poetry has been included in the religious texts of the Sikh religion.

Mumtaz Ahmad Khan Daultana was from Vehari. He was part of the Pakistan Freedom Movement and was appointed the first Chief Minister of Punjab province.