Chandigarh is a city and a union territory in India that serves as the capital of the two neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana. The city is unique as it is not a part of either of the two states but is governed directly by the Union Government, which administers all such territories in the country. 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. Chandigarh is famous for the Capitol Complex including the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Punjab and Haryana Secretariat, Punjab and Haryana Assembly along with monuments Open hand, Martyrs Memorial, Geometric Hill, Tower of Shadow and the Rock Garden.
History: Chandigarh was the dream city of India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. After the partition of India in 1947, the former British province of Punjab was split between East Punjab in India (mostly Sikhs and Hindus) and West Punjab in Pakistan (mostly Muslim). The Indian Punjab required a new capital city to replace Lahore, which had become 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 Puadhi 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 emphasised cellular neighbourhoods 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.
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 the capital of both states.
*(All the above information are from Wikipedia.)
Transport:
Airport: Chandigarh Airport is well connected to all major airports across India.
Rail: Chandigarh Junction railway station lies in the Northern Railway zone of the Indian Railway network and provides connectivity to most of the regions of India.
Road: Three major highways (NH 7, NH 152 and NH 5) pass through Chandigarh connecting major cities of India. The Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU) operates public transport buses from its Inter State Bus Terminals (ISBT) within the city and to the neighbouring states.
Local: Public buses, rickshaw, auto-rickshaw, taxi and other vehicles are available for transport within the city.
Tourist Interest:
The places of interest in Chandigarh are Rock Gardens, Sukhna Lake, Rose Garden and Capitol Complex.
Tour Planner:
All the tourist attractions in Chandigarh can be covered in a single day.