Chandigarh Travel Guide
Chandigarh is Blessed with the resplendent Blue Shivalik Hills, Chandigarh enjoys the special status of being the Capital of two states Punjab and Haryana and also a Union Territory controlled by Central Government. The city was conceived in the 1950s and a European modernist architect was engaged to plan it. It has derived its name from an ancient temple dedicated to the Goddess Chandi. However, the city does not belong to either state. Chandigarh was constituted as a union territory on 1st November, 1966 and is administered by the Government of India. The city is named after the mother goddess of power, Chandi, and a fort or 'garh' beyond the Chandi temple. The city is divided into 47 numbered sectors. It has well-laid roads lined with rows of trees and beautifully planned buildings. Against the backdrop of the Siwalik smountains, the city looks charming. Chandigarh has been the capital of Punjab and Haryana since Independence. Lahore, the old capital, is now situated in Pakistan. At that time, Punjab consisted of the present state of Punjab, Haryana, and part of Himachal Pradesh. Punjab was divided again in 1966 into the Hindi-speaking Haryana and the Punjabi-speaking State of Punjab.
Chandigarh is a Union Territory and functions as capital of both Punjab and Haryana. Lacking in age-old cultural traditions of a typical town, Chandigarh has acquired new ones to its calendar of activities. People celebrate spring festivals, tree plantation festivals, rose and chrysanthemum shows, dog shows and kite-flying festivals with as much gaiety and zest as they celebrate Diwali, Holi or any other religious function. Chandigarh citizens are also a very culturally conscious. For a small city of its size, there are more than five major auditoriums and a same number of art galleries. Even more and bigger cultural centers are being planned to be built to cater to the growing demands of art and theater lovers. In autumn and winter when the sun is mellow, on a single day there can be a good number of art exhibitions and concrete openings in the city. It is usual for the ‘city elite’ to be seen and to see such occasions as an important status symbol. Museums in Chandigarh have very rare collections. Gandhara Sculptures and Mughal & Pertian paintings lead us to the history. Mural paintings of the ancient period and the collections of contemporary art also can be enjoyed in some of these museums. The famous French architect Charles Edouard 'Le Corbusier' Jeanneret, who was truly a multifaceted 'Renaissance man' with the vision of a philosopher-thinker and the creativity of an architect-painter, planned the beautiful city of Chandigarh. He conceived Chandigarh as a city of "Sun, Space and Verdure" to fulfill four basic functions of living, working, circulation, and care of body and spirit. The master plan is a chequered mesh of rectangles called sectors, which are intended to be self-sufficient neighborhood units, enclosed by fast-moving traffic roads. In fact, a salient feature of the city plan of Chandigarh is its novel movement system, which has a hierarchy of streets for different types of traffic.
Places to see: in chandigarh and around it are Rock Garden, Rose Garden, Sukhna Lake, The Museum and Art gallery, The Leisure Valley, The Terrace Garden, Morni Hills, Cactus Garden, Yadavindra Gardens, Pinjore,v, Mansa Devi Temple, Leisure Valley, Dr. Zakir Rose Garden,Shanti Kunj,Bougainvillea Garden,Terraced Garden,Topiry Garden Museum and Art Gallery,Museum of Evolution of Life (Science Museum),Child Art Gallery,National Gallery of Portraits,International Dolls Museum.
Access: Chandigarh is connected to Delhi and Amritsar by Indian Airlines flights. The Chandigarh airport is 11 km away from the main city.The Chandigarh railway station is 7 km away from the city center. It is well connected to the major cities of India like Delhi (238 km), Bikaner (575 km), and Jodhpur (827 km). Chandigarh is well connected by road to almost every small or big town in northern India. Frequent buses ply from Chandigarh to Punjab, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and even Rajasthan. One has a varied choice that includes luxury buses, ordinary buses and taxis, all readily available.
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