PAKISTAN > CULTURE & HERITAGE:

Pakistani Society
Pakistani society is largely multilingual and multicultural. Religious practices of various faiths are an integral part of everyday life in society. Education is highly regarded by members of every socio-economic stratum. The traditional family values are highly respected and considered sacred, although urban families have grown into a nuclear family system, owing to the socio-economic constraints imposed by the traditional joint family system.

The past few decades have seen emergence of a middle class in cities such as Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Hyderabad, Faisalabad, Sukkur, Peshawar, Abbottabad and Multan. The North-western part of Pakistan, bordering with Afghanistan, is highly conservative and dominated by regional tribal customs dating back hundreds of years.

National Dress
One of the most familiar sights in Pakistan, is that traditionally pakistani men wear Shalwar kameez. They come in many different styles, fabrics, colours and patterns that make them look really stylish. Pakistani women also wear shalwar kameez but the designs defer.

Also, women from sindh province and in the lower regions of Pakistan are known to wear saris more traditionally.

The sherwani is the national dress of Pakistan for men, as it is not specifically associated with any of the provinces. Most government officials wear the formal Black sherwani on state occasions.

Film and television
Typical Lollywood Movie Billboards .Traditionally, the government-owned Pakistan Television (PTV) has been the dominant media player in Pakistan. However past decade has seen emergence of several private TV channels (news , entertainment) such as the GEO TV, AAJ TV, ARY Digital and a dozen or so more channels. Traditionally the bulk of TV shows have been plays or soap operas---some of them critically acclaimed. Various American, European, Asian and Indian TV channels and movies are available to a majority of the population via Cable TV.

Lollywood
Main Article : Lollywood
An indigenous movie industry exists in Pakistan, and is known as Lollywood as it is based in Lahore, producing over forty feature-length films a year. In contrast, Indian movies are popular in Pakistan despite a ban on the screening of Hindi films since the Indo- Pakistan War 1965.

Music
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan performing on PTVMain Article : Music of Pakistan
Pakistani music is represented by a wide variety of forms. It ranges from traditional styles (such as Qawwali) to more modern forms that try to fuse traditional Pakistani music with western music. A famous Pakistani musician, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is internationally renowned for creating a form of music which synchronized Qawwali with western music. Popular forms of music also prevail, the most notable being Film music and Urdu Pop music. In addition to this are the diverse traditions of folk music.

Punjabi Stage Shows
These are very similar to stage plays in theatres. They are performed by many well-known actors and actresses in the Lollywood industry. The are many types of themes that are brought across with lots of humour.

See Also : Communications in Pakistan, List of Pakistani musicians, Sufi rock, Pakistani black metal

Pakistani literature
Iqbal in deep thought;The picture earned him the Famous title of "The Thinker"Main Article : Pakistani literature
Pakistani literature, that is, the literature of Pakistan, as a distinct literature came into being when Pakistan gained its nationhood as a sovereign state in 1947. The common and shared tradition of Urdu literature and English literature of the Indian subcontinent was inherited by the new state. Over a period of time, a body of literature unique to Pakistan has emerged in nearly all major Pakistani languages, including Urdu, English, Punjabi, Pushto and Sindhi.

Pakistani Poetry
The Urdu language has a rich tradition of poetry boasting such renown poets as Mirza Ghalib, Allama Iqbal (who is the national poet of Pakistan) and Faiz Ahmad Faiz.