Wagah


Wahga or Wagha is a village and union council located in the Wahgah Zone of Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. 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. Wagah is situated west of the border and lies on the historic Grand Trunk Road between Lahore and Amritsar in India. The border is located from Lahore and from Amritsar. It is also from the bordering village of Attari.

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. At the time of the independence in 1947, migrants from India entered Pakistan through this border crossing. The Wagah railway station is to the south and from the border.

Border crossing ceremony

The Wagah-Attari border ceremony happens at the border gate, two hours before sunset each day. The flag ceremony is conducted by the Pakistan Rangers and Indian Border Security Force, 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 adapted similar ceremonies in recent years.

Wagah flag

Following India's erection of a 360ft flagpole on their side of the border in Attari, in August 2017, a 400ft flag was installed on the Wagah side. The pole in Attari is the largest in India.

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