Google celebrates Pakistan’s Independence Day with landmark doodle

ISLAMABAD: Google has commemorated Pakistan’s Independence Day in celebration with a doodle of the Khojak Tunnel located in Balochistan.

The doodle artwork illustrates the fortified eastern entrance of Pakistan’s historic Khojak Tunnel, one of the nation’s oldest and longest underpasses.

The construction on this iconic landmark began in 1888 to extend the area’s railway through the Khojak pass of the Toba Kakar mountain range located in Balochistan’s Qila Abdullah district, which was at the time impossible to cross by train.

The Khojak Tunnel’s construction was an unprecedented undertaking in the South Asian subcontinent. Over 19 million bricks were required, most of which were kilned at the rugged site, and builders burned more than 6,000 candles to illuminate their work in the dark space.

Upon its completion in 1891, the 3.9-kilometer Khojak Tunnel became the fourth-longest underpass in the world.

To honour this feat of civil engineering, in 1976 the Pakistani government printed a depiction of the Khojak Tunnel on its five-rupee note, which remained in circulation until 2005.

Google has continued the tradition to commemorate Pakistan’s Independence Day with a doodle on its homepage. In the past, Google’s doodles have drawn inspiration from the Lahore Fort, Khyber Pass and the Indus Valley Civilization.