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interested in town planning. Chandigarh is a very
beautiful city with a large variety of flowering trees
specially selected by a renowned civil servant and
botanist, Dr. M. S. Randhawa, who later became its Chief
Commissioner. This city is the perfect base for
exploring the surrounding region that is rich with art,
history and scenic landscapes. The best season to visit
Chandigarh is from October to March.
History of Chandigarh
At the time of partition in 1947, Punjab was divided
between Pakistan and India and its former capital Lahore
was allocated to Pakistan. The Indian government decided
to build a new modern capital for the new state of the
Punjab. As a result, Chandigarh was created under the
guidance of Le Corbusier, the French architect, as the
new capital of Punjab in place of Lahore. But, the city
too became a centre of controversy. The two heirs of the
Punjab legacy demanded it as their own. Ultimately, the
Central Government made it the capital of both the
states, retaining Chandigarh as a Central Territory
under its own administrative control. The Pakistan
government also decided to built a new national capital
at Islamabad. Later, Chandigarh served as the
administrative centre for both Punjab and Haryana which
were the products of a further sub–division of Punjab in
1966. The initial plans were drawn in New York by Albert
Mayer and Matthew Novicki. When Mr. Matthew Novicki died
in an air crash in 1950, the work was entrusted to the
internationally renowned architect Le Corbusier. He
supervised the layout and was responsible for the
building of the grand buildings like the Secretariat,
High Court and the Legislative Assembly while Maxwell
Fry and Jane Drew designed the residential and
commercial areas. They laid out city adopting the latest
principles of town planning. Several buildings are built
on ‘stilts’, a design which has become popular in India
for public buildings.
Architecture in Chandigarh
The city was planned to accommodate half a million.
Informal housing has already helped Chandigarh to past
that figure. For housing there are 14 carefully graded
categories for ministers down to the lowest–paid public
sector employees. Each sector was built keeping
self–sufficiency in mind, to fulfil the community’s
immediate needs. So, they are like traditional Indian
villages. The city’s major works areas are the capital
complex which consists of the Secretariat, Legislative
Assembly and High Court; Sector 17, the central business
district with administrative and state government
offices, shopping areas and banks; a Cultural Zone for
education which includes a museum, campus university
with institutions for engineering, architecture, Asian
studies and medicine and the Open Hand monument which
symbolizes the unity of humankind. The readily available
concrete and the material of the post war years are used
in the construction of the building.
Festivals in Chandigarh
Baisakhi, the Hindu New Year Day is the famous festival
of Punjab and is celebrated with great fun in Chandigarh.
The dancers perform the Bhangra dance with great
enthusiasm, standing on each other’s shoulders, and
display all the joie de vivre for which the people of
the Punjab are known. All the Hindu festivals are also
celebrated here.
Tourist Attractions in
Chandigarh
The main tourist attraction in Chandigarh is the Rock
Garden. This huge and special garden was built by Nek
Chand, who built this garden from broken pieces of cups
and saucers, bangles and other waste materials. This
garden is very unique in the world and visited by
tourists from all over the world. Besides the rock
garden, the Rose Garden and Sukhna Lake are the other
tourist attractions in Chandigarh. The Rose Garden is
the largest garden in Asia. It is spread over 30 acres
of beautifully landscaped gardens and contains about
1,600 varieties of roses. The Sukhna lake has become a
halting place for birds migrating from Central Asia to
India and vice versa.
More....
How to reach Chandigarh
By Air:
Chandigarh is connected by air with Delhi, Jammu,
Srinagar, Kullu and Leh. The airport is situated about
11 km from the city centre.
By Rail:
The Railway station at Chandigarh is about 8 km from the
centre of town. Chandigarh is connected by rail with
Delhi, Shimla and Kolkata and all the other cities of
India.
By Road:
Chandigarh is well-connected by road to Delhi, Shimla,
Amritsar, Pathankot, Dharamshala, Kulu, Manali and
Jammu. |
