Lowari Pass (), or Lowari Top, (el. 10,230 ft.) is a high

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration t ...

, connecting the regions of

Chitral Chitral () is a city situated on the Kunar River, Chitral River in northern area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It serves as the capital of the Lower Chitral District, and was previously the capital of Chitral District, and before ...

and Dir Upper within the

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a province of Pakistan. Located in the northwestern region of the country, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the fourth largest province of Paki ...

province of

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. Lowari Pass is a relatively low pass, by far the lowest pass to enter Chitral. All the other are around 12,000 to 15,000 feet. Lowari Top experiences a seasonal closure due to heavy snow accumulation, rendering it impassable for vehicular transportation. This closure typically extends from the latter part of November to the ending days of May each year. The Pass entail inherent risks. A significant concern may be the imminent threat posed by deadly

avalanche An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a Grade (slope), slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be triggered spontaneously, by factors such as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, othe ...

, which can occur abruptly and without warning. This is dangerous, as there are high mountains on each side of Lowari Top. Several people traversing the Pass in winters become the victims of

fatalities. Their bodies are buried under the snow and it is only when the summer comes and the snow melts that their bodies are found. Nevertheless, Lowari Top remains popular because it is the shortest route from

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

. The other way would be down the

Kunar River The Chitral River, also known in Afghanistan as the Kunar River, is a long river in northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan. It originates from the Chiantar glacier, located at the border of Gilgit Baltistan and Chitral in Pakistan. At A ...

Jalalabad Jalalabad (; Help:IPA/Persian, ͡ʒä.lɑː.lɑː.bɑːd̪ is the list of cities in Afghanistan, fifth-largest city of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 200,331, and serves as the capital of Nangarhar Province in the eastern part ...

through hostile

Afghan Afghan or Afgan may refer to: Related to Afghanistan *Afghans, historically refers to the Pashtun people. It is both an ethnicity and nationality. Ethnicity wise, it refers to the Pashtuns. In modern terms, it means both the citizens of Afghanist ...

territory or the much longer route across Shandur Top to

Gilgit Gilgit (; Shina language, Shina: ; ) is a city in Pakistani-administered Gilgit-Baltistan, Gilgit–Baltistan in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kas ...

. Lowari Top crosses the Hindu Raj Mountains, a spur of the higher

Hindu Kush The Hindu Kush is an mountain range in Central Asia, Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and eastern Afghanistan into northwestern Pakistan and far southeastern Tajikistan. The range forms the wester ...

. On the Chitral side of Lowari Top are the people of Ashret, who speak the Palula language and were assigned by the Mehtar of Chitral to be the guardians of Lowari Top. On the Dir side reside Khowars, some of whom make their living as

porters Porters may refer to: * Porters, Virginia, an unincorporated community in Virginia, United States * Porters, Wisconsin, an unincorporated community in Wisconsin, United States * Porters Ski Area, a ski resort in New Zealand * Porters (TV series), '' ...

carrying loads across Lowari Top. In 1954, the Mehtar of Chitral was killed when his airplane crashed into Lowari Top. The word "Top" is believed not to be the English word "top" but a word from an ancient language no longer spoken there. The Lowari Top is one of the four major mountain passes to enter

. The others are the

Dorah Pass Dorah Pass, also called ''Durah Pass'', connects Badakshan Province of Afghanistan with Lower Chitral District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The Dorah Pass is more than high. It is located along the Durand Line border and crosses the Hindu Ku ...

from

Badakshan Badakhshan is a historical region comprising the Wakhan Corridor in northeast Afghanistan, eastern Tajikistan, and Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County in China. Badakhshan Province is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. Much of historic Ba ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

, Shandur Top from

, and Broghol from the

Wakhan Corridor The Wakhan Corridor (; ) is a narrow strip of territory in the Badakhshan province of Afghanistan. This corridor stretches eastward, connecting Afghanistan to Xinjiang, China. It also separates the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region of Tajiki ...

. The

Lowari Tunnel Lowari Tunnel (, ''Lowari Surang'') consists of two separate tunnels, and the combined length of both tunnels is 10.4 kilometers (6.5 miles). It is a vehicular tunnel under the Lowari Pass of the Hindu Kush mountains, between Dir and Chitral ...

was constructed beneath Lowari Pass by Sambu, a South Korean company in 2009. However, the tunnel was abandoned shortly thereafter and has since fallen into disrepair. The tunnel is functional as of December 2019 and comprises over 8.5 Kilometres in length.

Books

* ''The Gilgit Game'' by

John Keay John Stanley Melville Keay FRGS (born 1941) is a British historian, journalist, radio presenter and lecturer specialising in popular histories of India, the Far East and China, often with a particular focus on their colonisation and explora ...

(1985) * ''The Kafirs of the Hindukush'' (1896) Sir George Scott Robertson.

External links

*
Lowari Pass one of 10 most dangerous roads in Pakistan

References

{{Mountain passes of Pakistan Lower Chitral District Upper Dir District Mountain passes of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Hindu Raj