Chandigarh
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Seal
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Country
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1
November 1966
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Government
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• Type
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• Senior Deputy Mayor
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Rajesh
Kumar Gupta[
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• Deputy Mayor
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Anil
Dubey
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Area
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114 km2
(44 sq mi)
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Area rank
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Elevation
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350 m
(1,150 ft)
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Population
(2011)
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1,055,450
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• Density
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9,262/km2
(23,988/sq mi)
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Languages
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• official
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160XXX
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Telephone code
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+91-172-XXX-XXXX
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Literacy
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86.05%
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Website
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†The city of Chandigarh
comprises all of the union territory's area.
††under Section 4 of the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966. |
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Symbols of Chandigarh
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Emblem
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Animal
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Bird
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Flower
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Tree
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Chandigarh (local pronunciation: is a city and a union territory in India that serves as the capital of both neighboring states of Haryana and Punjab. The city is not part of either of the two states and is governed directly by the Union Government, which administers all such territories in the country.
Chandigarh
is bordered by the state of Punjab to the north, west and south,
and to the state of Haryana to the east. It is considered to
be a part of the Chandigarh capital region or Greater Chandigarh, which includes Chandigarh,
and the city of Panchkula (in Haryana) and cities of Kharar, Kurali, Mohali, Zirakpur (in Punjab). It is located
260 km (162 miles) north of New Delhi, 229 km (143 miles)
southeast of Amritsar and just 116 km (72 miles)
southwest of Shimla.
It was
one of the early planned cities in post-independence India and
is internationally known for its architecture and urban design. The master plan
of the city was prepared by Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier, which transformed from earlier
plans created by the Polish architect Maciej Nowicki and the
American planner Albert
Mayer. Most of
the government buildings and housing in the city, were designed by the
Chandigarh Capital Project Team headed by Le Corbusier, Jane Drew and Maxwell Fry. In 2015, an article published
by BBC named Chandigarh as one of the
perfect cities of the world in terms of architecture, cultural growth and
modernisation.
Chandigarh’s Capitol Complex was in July 2016 declared by UNESCO as World Heritage at the 40th
session of World Heritage Conference held in Istanbul. UNESCO inscription was under
“The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier an outstanding contribution to the
Modern Movement”. The Capitol Complex buildings include the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Punjab and Haryana Secretariat and Punjab and Haryana Assembly along with
monuments Open hand, Martyrs Memorial, Geometric Hill and Tower of Shadow.
The city
has one of the highest per capita income in the country. The city was reported
to be one of the cleanest in India based on a national government study. The
union territory also heads the list of Indian states and territories according
to Human
Development Index. In
2015, a survey by LG
Electronics, ranked
it as the happiest city in India over the happiness index. The metropolitan of
Chandigarh–Mohali–Panchkula collectively forms a Tri-city, with a
combined population of over 2 million.
HISTORY
The name Chandigarh is a portmanteau of Chandi and Garh. Chandi refers to Hindu goddess Chandi, the warrior Avatar of Goddess Parvati, and Garh means home. The name is derived from Chandi Mandir, an ancient temple devoted to the Hindu Goddess Chandi, near the city in Panchkula District.The motif or sobriquet of "The City Beautiful" was derived from the City Beautiful movement that was a popular philosophy in North American urban planning during the 1890s and 1900s. Architect Albert Mayer, the initial planner of Chandigarh, lamented the American rejection of City Beautiful concepts and declared "We want to create a beautiful city..." The phrase was used on as a logo in official publications in the 1970s, and is now how the city describes itself.
Early history
The city has a pre-historic past. Due to the presence of a lake, the area has fossil remains with imprints of a large variety of aquatic plants and animals, and amphibian life, which were supported by that environment. As it was a part of the Punjab region, it had many rivers nearby where the ancient and primitive settling of humans began. So, about 8000 years ago, the area was also known to be a home to the Harappans.
A map of the British
Punjab province in 1909. During the Partition of India along the Radcliffe
Line, the capital of the Punjab Province, Lahore, fell into West
Punjab, Pakistan.
The necessity to have a new capital for East
Punjab in India then, led to the development of Chandigarh.
Chandigarh was the dream city of India's first Prime Minister, Jawahar
Lal Nehru. After the partition of India in 1947,
the former British province
of Punjab was split between (mostly Sikhs) East
Punjab in India and (mostly Muslim) West
Punjab in Pakistan. The Indian Punjab
required a new capital city to replace Lahore,
which became part of Pakistan during the partition. Therefore, an American
planner and architect Albert Mayer was tasked to
design a new city called "Chandigarh" in 1949. The government carved
out Chandigarh of nearly 50 Pwadhi speaking villages of the then state of East
Punjab, India. Shimla was the temporary capital of East
Punjab until Chandigarh was completed in 1960.Albert Mayer, during his work on the development and planning of the new capital city of Chandigarh, developed a superblock-based city threaded with green spaces which emphasized cellular neighborhoods and traffic segregation. His site plan used natural characteristics, using its gentle grade to promote drainage and rivers to orient the plan. Mayer discontinued his work on Chandigarh after developing a master plan for the city when his architect-partner Matthew Nowicki died in a plane crash in 1950. Government officials recruited Le Corbusier to succeed Mayer and Nowicki, who enlisted many elements of Mayer's original plan without attributing them to him.
Le Corbusier designed many administration buildings, including a courthouse, parliament building, and a university. He also designed the general layout of the city, dividing it into sectors.
Chandigarh hosts the largest of Le Corbusier's many Open Hand sculptures, standing 26 metres high. The Open Hand (La Main Ouverte) is a recurring motif in Le Corbusier's architecture, a sign for him of "peace and reconciliation. It is open to give and open to receive." It represents what Le Corbusier called the "Second Machine Age". Two of the six monuments planned in the Capitol Complex which has the High Court, the Assembly and the Secretariat, remain incomplete. These include Geometric Hill and Martyrs Memorial; drawings were made, and they were begun in 1956, but they were never completed.
On 1 November 1966, the newly formed state of Haryana was carved out of the eastern portion of East Punjab, in order to create a new state for the majority Haryanvi-speaking people in that portion, while the western portion of East Punjab retained a mostly Punjabi-speaking majority and was renamed as Punjab. Chandigarh was located on the border of both states and the states moved to incorporate the city into their respective territories. However, the city of Chandigarh was declared a union territory to serve as capital of both states.[
As of 2016, many historical villages in Chandigarh are still inhabited within the modern blocks of sectors including Burail and Attawa, while there are a number of non-sectoral villages that lie on the outskirts of the city. These villages were a part of the pre-Chandigarh era.
CLIMATE
Talking about the Chandigarh
weather, it can be said that summers are extremely hot and monsoons are highly
uncertain. During the monsoon period, sometimes the weather is cool and
sometimes very humid. If you are planning a pleasure trip to this city, then
the perfect time is between autumn and winters (mid-August to November), when
the weather is pleasant. During this period, it is neither too hot, nor too
cold and also there is not much of rainfall. Winters are chilling, especially
during the late nights and early mornings. Read to know more on Chandigarh
climatic conditions: Here are given some fast facts about the weather & climate of Chandigarh:
- Best season to visit: between mid-August to
November
- Spring: The climate remains the most enjoyable part of the year during the spring season (from February-end to early-April). Temperatures vary between (max) 13 °C to 20 °C and (min) 5 °C to 12 °C.
- Autumn: In autumn (from September-end to mid November.), the temperature may rise to a maximum of 30 °C. Temperatures usually remain between 10° to 22° in autumn. The minimum temperature is around 6 °C.
- Summer: The temperature in summer (from Mid-April to June-end) may rise to 44 °C. The temperatures might sometime rise to 44 °C in mid-June. Temperatures generally vary between 40 and 42 °C.
- Monsoon: During monsoon (from early-July to mid-September), Chandigarh receives moderate to heavy rainfall and sometimes heavy to very heavy rainfall (generally during the month of August or September). Usually, the rain bearing monsoon winds blow from south-west/south-east. Mostly, the city receives heavy rain from south (which is mainly a persistent rain) but it generally receives most of its rain during monsoon either from North-west or North-east. Maximum amount of rain received by the city of Chandigarh during monsoon season is 195.5 mm in a single day.
- Winter: Winters (November-end to February-end) are mild but it can sometimes get quite chilly in Chandigarh. Average temperatures in the winter remain at (max) 5 °C to 14 °C and (min) -1 °C to 5 °C. Rain usually comes from the west during winters and it is usually a persistent rain for 2–3 days with sometimes hailstorms. The city witnessed bone-numbing chill as the maximum temperature on Monday, 7 January 2013 plunged to a 30-year low to settle at 6.1 degrees Celsius.
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hideClimate data for Chandigarh
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Month
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Jan
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Feb
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Mar
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Apr
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May
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Jun
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Jul
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Aug
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Sep
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Oct
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Nov
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Dec
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Year
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Record high °C (°F)
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27.7
(81.9) |
32.8
(91) |
37.8
(100) |
42.7
(108.9) |
44.6
(112.3) |
45.3
(113.5) |
42.0
(107.6) |
39.0
(102.2) |
37.5
(99.5) |
37.0
(98.6) |
34.0
(93.2) |
28.5
(83.3) |
45.6
(114.1) |
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Average high °C (°F)
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20.4
(68.7) |
23.1
(73.6) |
28.4
(83.1) |
34.5
(94.1) |
38.3
(100.9) |
38.6
(101.5) |
34.0
(93.2) |
32.7
(90.9) |
33.1
(91.6) |
31.8
(89.2) |
27.3
(81.1) |
22.1
(71.8) |
30.4
(86.7) |
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Average low °C (°F)
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6.1
(43) |
8.3
(46.9) |
13.4
(56.1) |
18.9
(66) |
23.1
(73.6) |
25.4
(77.7) |
23.9
(75) |
23.3
(73.9) |
21.8
(71.2) |
17.0
(62.6) |
10.5
(50.9) |
6.7
(44.1) |
16.5
(61.7) |
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Record low °C (°F)
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0.0
(32) |
0.0
(32) |
4.2
(39.6) |
7.8
(46) |
13.4
(56.1) |
14.8
(58.6) |
14.2
(57.6) |
17.2
(63) |
14.3
(57.7) |
9.4
(48.9) |
3.7
(38.7) |
0.0
(32) |
0.0
(32) |
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Average rainfall mm (inches)
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33.1
(1.303) |
38.9
(1.531) |
30.4
(1.197) |
8.5
(0.335) |
28.4
(1.118) |
145.2
(5.717) |
280.4
(11.039) |
307.5
(12.106) |
133.0
(5.236) |
21.9
(0.862) |
9.4
(0.37) |
21.9
(0.862) |
1,059.3
(41.705) |
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Average rainy days
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2.6
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2.8
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2.6
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1.1
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2.1
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6.3
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12.3
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11.4
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5.0
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1.4
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0.8
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1.4
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49.8
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Source:
India Meteorological Department (record high and low up to 2010)
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CULTURE
Chandigarh is a cosmopolitan city that has always encouraged the various diverse groups to intermingle with each other. Therefore, one can find several bhavans and sabhas over here that are actively involved in the task of promoting different cultures. The blending of distinctive cultural aspects is also reflected in the architectural style of the shrines of this city. Apart from the typical north Indian style, you can also find places of worship in the styles of Kerala, Tamilnadu, Orissa & Bengal.
Also, the folk music and dances of different communities are given a boost. Various exhibitions and workshops are conducted to showcase the talent of people. As far as the language is concerned, Hindi and Punjabi are the two main languages that are spoken here. However, among the youth it is usually Hinglish (combination of Hindi and English) that is becoming increasingly popular. It is a city, where you can find yummy mouthwatering food. There are different choices of cuisines to choose from. The city has plenty of fast food joints, South Indian & Chinese restaurants.
Chandigarh is a land of fairs and festivals. The people of this city observe all the festivals with proper rituals and traditions. The main festivals observed by the people in Chandigarh are Baisakhi, Gurpurab, Holla Mohalla, Lohri, Tika, Karva Chauth, Raksha Bandhan, Dusshera and Diwali. All of them are celebrated with equal merriment and enthusiasm.
Chandigarh Cuisine
You can relish a wide variety of lip smacking cuisine, when you are touring Chandigarh. The traditional cuisine of the place consists of typical Punjabi food, which is very spicy. The people in Chandigarh make use of generous amounts of oil and ghee, to increase the taste and aroma of their dishes. They are very fond of milk and milk products and have a weakness for desserts.
Chandigarh History
Chandigarh, named after Goddess Chadi Mandir in the city, came into existence after the partition and independence of India, in the year 1947. It was initially intended to serve as the capital of Punjab. However, later on, the city became the capital of Haryana as well. However, its administration is still under the Government of India, since it has been declared as a union territory.
People of Chandigarh
People in Chandigarh are very warm and friendly. You can find diversity in the castes and culture of people living in this part of India. While the majority of people are Hindus and Sikhs, you can also find a considerable population of Jains, Muslims, Christians, etc here. Until sometime back, people in the city led a leisurely lifestyle. However, with time, they have also started getting a taste of the fast paced life.
Religion
Chandigarh is a place where a number of religions co-exist, with perfect harmony. Sikhism and Hinduism are the major religions followed in the city. Sikhism, founded by Guru Nanak, preaches the faith of “Waheguru”, meaning the Universal God. The most common Hindu castes prevalent in the city are Khatri (Kshatriya in Hindi), Brahman, Baniya and Rajput. Other religions, like Islam, Christianity, Jainism and Buddhism, also flourish in the city.
Folk Dances
Chandigarh has a rich tradition of folk dances, borrowed from the parent states of Punjab and Haryana. The people of the city are very lively and celebrate all the occasions to the fullest, with the folk dances accompanying each of them almost always. Bhangra, Giddha, Jhumar, Luddi, Julli, Dhamal, Sammi, Jaago, Teeyan, Dankara, Kikili and Gatka are some of the popular folk dances of the city.
TOURISM
Places
to visit
Chandigarh has various visitor attractions including theme gardens within
the city. Some notable sites are:
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Sukhna Lake
Located in Sector 1, the Sukhna Lake is an artificial
reservoir. A popular place to hang out, one can expect to find residents of the
city jogging or strolling along the banks. There is a walking path, a
cafeteria, shops and a mini-amusement park and paddleboats. The Sukhna Lake was
created in 1958 by damming the Sukhna Choe, a seasonal stream that flows down
from the Shivaliks. Storks and cranes make migratory stops at the lake. The
lake, incidentally, has Asia's longest water channel for rowing and yachting.
One can also rent a bicycle from pedalchandigarh and roam around the lake on a
bicycle. available through Sailing at Sukhna Lake.It has The Garden
of Silence within it.
The atmosphere here is serene. Sukhna Lake is the venue for many festive
celebrations. The most popular is the Mango Festival held during the monsoons.
It is believed that a Swiss architect Pierre
Jeanneret's ashes were immersed in this lake according to his will
as he developed a deep bond with the lake. 
The garden is most famous for its sculptures made from
recycled ceramic, Rock Garden
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Rock Garden
The Rock Garden is situated in the
middle of the Capitol Complex and the Sukhna
Lake in Sector 1.It is also known as Nek
Chand Rock Garden after its founder. It has numerous sculptures made
by using a variety of different discarded waste materials like frames,
mudguards, forks, handle bars, metal wires, play marbles, porcelain, auto
parts, broken bangles etc. One day 36 years ago, Nek Chand, a humble transport official, began to clear a little patch of jungle to make himself a small garden area. He set stones around the little clearing and before long had sculpted a few figures recycled from materials he found at hand. Gradually Nek Chand's creation developed and grew; before long it covered several acres and comprised of hundreds of sculptures set in a series of interlinking courtyards. After his normal working day Chand worked at night, in total secrecy for fear of being discovered. When they did discover the garden, local government officials were thrown into turmoil. The creation was completely illegal - a development in a forbidden area. However, rather than demolishing the garden, they decided to give Nek Chand a salary so that he could concentrate full-time on his work, plus a workforce of fifty labourers.
Nek Chand himself went up the Shivalik hills and got different stones and materials with which he started building the garden.
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Rose Garden
Zakir Hussain Rose Garden, or
simply Rose Garden, is named after the former President of India, Zakir Hussain. It is situated
in Sector 16. The garden is known to be the greatest of its types in Asia. The garden is said to be spread about thirty to forty acres containing nearly 825 varieties of roses in it and more than 32,500 varieties of other medicinal plants and trees.
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Parrot Bird Sanctuary Chandigarh
Parrot Bird Sanctuary
Chandigarh is a bird sanctuary which is located in sector 21
Chandigarh India.It is notified under Section 18 of the Wildlife (Protection)
Act, 1972. It is habitat of thousands of parrots. It is the second wildlife
sanctuary in the city after Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary.
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Leisure Valley
A continuum of various theme gardens, Leisure Valley is a linear park over
8 km long which starts from Sector 1 in the north and leaves Chandigarh at
its southern most edge. It consists of many theme parks, botanical gardens and
green belts, including Rajendra Park in Sector 1, the Bougainvillea Garden in
Sector 3 and the Physical Fitness Trails in Sector 10, among others.
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Le corbusier
Le Corbusier's Legislative Assembly
Le Corbusier's Open Hand
The most striking thing about the city is the expanse of resplendent blue
sky with the mountains in the backdrop. When you are approaching the city, you
would see the jagged skyline of the Shivalik Hills looming large over the city
and the faint image of an old temple dedicated to Goddess Chandi (15 km from
Chandigarh) from which the city got its name. Chandigarh may appear oddly familiar to Western visitors and idiosyncratic to the rest of India. Because of this, Chandigarh is a good place to visit if you need a break from the constant flow of which is often said to assault the senses, and can be overwhelming to foreign travelers.
Chandigarh is also a very secure city. With the lowest crime rates in the country, you can feel safe at any hour.
The political position of Chandigarh is quite ambiguous for anybody not knowing the city well. It is the capital to two northern Indian states Punjab and Haryana besides being a union territory in itself. The birth of this modern, youngest and vibrant city was an act of anguish and drama that took place at the time of partition of India and Pakistan. Lahore, the historical capital of Punjab was ceded to Pakistan and Chandigarh was conceived to be a symbol of India's freedom.
The government of the state decided to build a new city at the foot of the Shivalik hills. Architects Albert Mayer and Mathew Novicki drew the initial plans in New York. When the latter died in an air crash in 1950, the work was entrusted to renowned Swiss born, French architect Edouard 'Le Corbusier' Jeanneret who created Chandigarh as a city of "Sun, Space and Verdure" to fulfill basic functions of working, living, and care of body and spirit. Today, the city is home to more than 900 000 people living in harmonious conditions that are considered to be the best in the country.
Le Corbusier's Secretariat Building
One can see architectural genius in the neat geometrical design of
residential quarters, reinforced concrete structures and self-contained area
layouts. Chandigarh is divided into 47 self-contained sectors. Each sector of
the city is designed with its own shops, academic, and health care buildings,
and places of worship, open spaces, greenery and the residential areas.
Chandigarh is one of the best planned cities of India. Roads are pretty wide
and spacious. It hasnt grown in a haphazard way as some of other Indian cities
have. - Rose Garden:
The city houses the largest rose garden
in Asia. It also hosts annual rose festival which is quite popular among local
population.
- The Capitol
Most of the capitol complex is fenced
off due to tight security, the open hand is accessible and from there you can
see the main buildings, albeit in the distance. If you want a closer look at
the Capitol, you need permission from the Tourist Bureau, in the ‘Deluxe
Administration building’ in Sector 9. Please note the capitol and bureau are
only open on M-F. The tourist bureau is not well signed, you’ll need to ask.
It’s in the single story building out the back. Bring your passport and prepare
for the beginning of the most amazing experience in Indian bureaucracy. One can
also get the permit from the Tourist Reception Centre in Sector 17 Plaza. All
in all I spent three hours in total of which 50 minutes was spent looking at
architecture. The tourist bureau gives you three letters giving you permission
to visit the three main buildings of the Capitol complex, The Secretariat, the
High Court and the Assembly.
- The High Court –
The letter is fine for looking around
the High Court just show to security at the entrance, around the back, but if
you want to take photos you need to surrender your camera, and head in to fill
out some more forms in the protocol office, and the take the forms back to
security to get your camera back. It’s worth it as the building is amazing, and
extremely photogenic. You can’t take any photos indoors.
- The Secretariat –
To check out the Secretariat, it’s a little
harder. First you need to find ‘reception’, which is just a small building out
the back and show them your letter to get a visitor permit, then you need to
see security who will let you in, then you need to see the main security
officer inside, who will send you up to the registrar who will then send you
back to the main security office. Thankfully you are escorted through most of
this confusing, overly complex procedure, usually by a junior soldier with
large machine gun. Whole process takes about 30 min. to an hour. Once it’s all
clear you can go up to the roof, check out the geranium gardens, and take in an
expansive view of all of Chandigarh. Then they’ll let you have a look out the
front, which is more interesting.
Pinjore Gardens
- Pinjore Gardens –
Pinjore Gardens, also called Yadavindra
Gardens, are 20 km (12 mi) from Chandigarh and 15 km (9 mi) from Panchkula, on the
Chandigarh Shimla road. Taxis and buses ply regularly between Pinjore and
Chandigarh. Pinjore lies on the foothills of the lower Shivalik ranges. The
fascinating gardens in the Mughal style are one of the most popular picnic
spots in the region. A mini zoo, plant nursery and Japanese garden, as well
historic palaces and picnic lawns await tourists.
- Museum and Art Gallery –
Located in Sector 10, the museum and the
combined art gallery is an interestin palce to go to. Artefacts range form the
Harrapan Period relics to the paintings and coins from different areas and time
periods. The Art Gallery has good collections of ancient and modern Indian art.
Fossils of the local dinosaurs found in the region are on show in the adjacent
natural history museum. The buildings that the Museums and Art Gallery are
housed in are attractive.
The Chandigarh Museum, which is just next door, provides an interesting aspect on how Chandigarh was founded. It begins with the principles on which Chandigrh was built, selection of the Architects, the design for the people etc. The correspondence between the Punjabi officials overseeing the construction of the city, and the Federal Government in Delhi is fascinating, and well worth taking a few minutes to read.
- Mohali cricket stadium- This is a lush green cricket stadium and people throng here in masses during the cricket matches which the stadium hosts on regular basis
·
Cactus Garden
8 kms away
from Chandigarh in Panchkula. Cactus Garden near Chandigarh, India is the largest succulent
botanical garden of Asia. It is located at a distance of about 8 kms from the
city of gardens. Situated in the heart of the city of Panchkula, it covers a total area of 7 acres. Cactus garden is known
for its rare & endangered species of Indian succulents. You can spot nearly
3500 different kinds of species over there. Chandigarh Cactus Garden was set up
in the year 1987. This unique garden consists of three green houses. It has
been drawing more and more crowds every year, consisting not just of tourists,
but botanists also.
There are many tourist gardens like the Garden of Fragrance in Sector 36, Garden of Palms in Sector 42, Butterfly Park in Sector 26, Valley of Animals in Sector 49, the Japanese Garden in Sector 31 and the Terraced Garden in Sector 33. Several other famous tourist destinations like Pinjore Gardens, Morni Hills, Nada Sahib, Kasauli, ChattBir Zoo lie in its vicinity.
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