Karor Lal Esan

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Karor Lal Esan" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Karor Lal Esan كروڑ لعل عيسن
Shrine of Lal Esan
Karor Lal Esan Show map of Punjab, Pakistan Karor Lal Esan Show map of Pakistan
Coordinates: 31°08′N 70°34′E / 31.13°N 70.57°E / 31.13; 70.57
Country	Pakistan
Province	Punjab
Area
• Total	3,721 km2 (1,437 sq mi)
Elevation	148 m (486 ft)
Population  (2017)[1]
• Total	594,367
• Density	326.0/km2 (844/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+5 (PST)
Calling code	0606
Number of towns	1
Number of Union councils	1

Karor Lal Esan (Saraiki, Punjabi, Urdu: كروڑ لعل عيسن) is a city of Layyah District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The city is the capital of Karor Lal Esan Tehsil and the administrative subdivision of the district.^[2]

Its old name is Depal Pur. The city is partially named after a saint, Lal Esan who, it is believed, recited 10 million times the Surah Muzammil (a chapter in the Quran) while standing inside the Indus River. In Urdu, 10 million equals 1 karor, which is why the city is called Karor Lal Esan. Lal Esan (original name: Sheikh Yousuf) was the grandfather of Muslim saint and poet Bahauddin Zakariya Multani.

There are a few other tombs of saints in the city, e.g. Darbar Baba Ramzan (near Kalma Chowk Karor), Darbar Araf Shah, Darbar Shah Habib sb. and Darbar Shah Ashraf Sb. Some tombs are outside the city limits but under the authority of the city like Khawja Ghulam Hassan Sewag Shareef's tomb is near Karor Lal Esan, at (Hassanabad) Pir Sewag Shareef. Darbar Rajan Shah is a few kilometers from the main city at the settlement of Rajan Shah, which has its own small railway station. There is also Khawaja Garrah Jan Muhammad Darbar.

There is a festival called Mela Chodhwein, held in Karor every year in September. It is celebrated in the memory of Lal Esan. The fair showcases events such as horse racing, tent pegging, camel fighting, bullfighting and racing.

It is located at 31°13'0N 70°57'0E with an altitude of 148 metres (488 feet).^[3] This city is located on the west coast of the Indus River. The city is located to East of Indus River and Suleman Mountainous ranges, hence the lands in vicinity of river are much fertile growing especially wheat and rice. The area has great potential for natural resources and have a great potential for oil and gas exploration as well defined geological structures (anticlines) have been mapped during the seismic surveys in different areas of Karor that can be potential reservoirs of oil and gas.

Karor Lal Esan has extreme weather (as does the whole district of Layyah). Summer lasts from May to September; June is the hottest month with an average monthly temperature of 50 °C with a maximum of up to 53 °C. In winter, however, the December and January temperatures are as low as 0 to 2 °C average monthly.

In 2010, village area of Karor flooded with Indus river. Houses and crops were destroyed. After that people finally took matters into their own hands and rebuilt their homes on raised dirt platforms five to six feet high.

• Ashu Lal Faqeer Famous Sairiki language poet from Karor Lal Esan