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Chandigarh () is a
planned city A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...
in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the
Chandigarh Capital Region Chandigarh Capital Region (CCR) or Chandigarh Metropolitan Region (CMR) is an area, which includes the union territory city of Chandigarh, and its neighboring cities of Mohali, Kharar, Zirakpur, New Chandigarh (in Punjab) and Panchkula (in Ha ...
or Greater Chandigarh, which also includes the adjacent
satellite cities Satellite cities or satellite towns are smaller municipalities that are adjacent to a principal city which is the core of a metropolitan area. They differ from mere suburbs, subdivisions and especially bedroom communities in that they have m ...
of
Panchkula Panchkula (PKL) is a planned city and district headquarter in the Panchkula district, part of the Ambala division in Haryana, India. The origin of the name Panchkula came from the place where five irrigation canals meet. Panchkula establis ...
and Mohali. It is located 260 km (162 miles) north of
New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Ho ...
and 229 km (143 miles) southeast of Amritsar. Chandigarh is one of the earliest
planned cities A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...
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 built upon earlier plans created by the Polish architect
Maciej Nowicki Maciej Nowicki (born 28 September 1941 in Warsaw) is a Polish politician, manager and scientist. Minister of the Environment of the Republic of Poland in the cabinet of Donald Tusk (from 16 November 2007 to 1 February 2010). Career Nowicki gra ...
and the American planner Albert Mayer. Most of the government buildings and housing in the city were designed by a team headed by Le Corbusier,
Jane Drew Dame Jane Drew , (24 March 1911 – 27 July 1996) was an English modernist architect and town planner. She qualified at the Architectural Association School in London, and prior to World War II became one of the leading exponents of the Modern ...
and Maxwell Fry. Chandigarh's Capitol Complex—as part of a global ensemble of Corbusier's buildings—was declared a
World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
by
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
at the 40th session of the World Heritage Conference in July 2016. Chandigarh has grown greatly since its initial construction, and has also driven the development of two satellite cities in its neighbouring states. The metropolitan area of Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula collectively forms a " tri-city", with a combined population of over 1,611,770. The city has one of the highest per capita incomes in the country. The union territory has one of the highest
Human Development Index The Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistic composite index of life expectancy, education (mean years of schooling completed and expected years of schooling upon entering the education system), and per capita income indicators, wh ...
among Indian states and territories. In 2015, a survey by
LG Electronics LG Electronics Inc. () is a South Korean multinational electronics company headquartered in Yeouido-dong, Seoul, South Korea. LG Electronics is a part of LG Corporation, the fourth largest '' chaebol'' in South Korea, and often considered a ...
ranked it as the happiest city in India on the happiness index. In 2015, an article published by
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
named Chandigarh one of the few master-planned cities in the world to have succeeded in terms of combining monumental architecture, cultural growth, and modernisation.


Etymology

The name ''Chandigarh'' is a
compound Compound may refer to: Architecture and built environments * Compound (enclosure), a cluster of buildings having a shared purpose, usually inside a fence or wall ** Compound (fortification), a version of the above fortified with defensive struc ...
of ''Chandi'' and ''Garh''. ''Chandi'' refers to the Hindu goddess
Chandi Chandi ( sa, चण्डी, ) or Chandika () is a Hindu deity. Chandika is another form of Mahadevi, similar to Durga. Chandika is a powerful form of Mahadevi who manifested to destroy evil. She is also known as ''Kaushiki'', '' Katyayan ...
and ''Garh'' means fortress. The name is derived from Chandi Mandir, an ancient temple devoted to the Hindu Goddess
Chandi Chandi ( sa, चण्डी, ) or Chandika () is a Hindu deity. Chandika is another form of Mahadevi, similar to Durga. Chandika is a powerful form of Mahadevi who manifested to destroy evil. She is also known as ''Kaushiki'', '' Katyayan ...
near the city in
Panchkula Panchkula (PKL) is a planned city and district headquarter in the Panchkula district, part of the Ambala division in Haryana, India. The origin of the name Panchkula came from the place where five irrigation canals meet. Panchkula establis ...
District. The motif or sobriquet of "The City of Beauty" was derived from the
City Beautiful movement The City Beautiful Movement was a reform philosophy of North American architecture and urban planning that flourished during the 1890s and 1900s with the intent of introducing beautification and monumental grandeur in cities. It was a part of the ...
, which 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 as a logo in official publications in the 1970s and is now how the city describes itself.


History

As part of the partition of India in 1947, the former British province of Punjab was divided into two parts, the mostly Hindu and Sikh
East Punjab East Punjab (known simply as Punjab from 1950) was a province and later a state of India from 1947 until 1966, consisting of the parts of the Punjab Province of British India that went to India following the partition of the province betwee ...
in India, and the mostly Muslim
West Punjab West Punjab ( pnb, ; ur, ) was a province in the Dominion of Pakistan from 1947 to 1955. The province covered an area of 159,344 km2 (61523 sq mi), including much of the current Punjab province and the Islamabad Capital Territory, but exclu ...
in
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
. The capital of undivided Punjab,
Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...
, had become part of Pakistan after the partition. Instead of shifting the capital to an already existing and established city,
Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...
, the first Prime Minister of India, envisioned an altogether new and modern city to be built to serve as the capital of
Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...
. In 1949, the American planner and architect Albert Mayer was commissioned to design a new city to be called "Chandigarh". The government carved out Chandigarh from about fifty Puadhi-speaking villages in the then-state of East Punjab, India.
Shimla Shimla (; ; also known as Simla, the official name until 1972) is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared as the summer capital of British India. After independence, the ...
was the temporary capital of the state until Chandigarh was completed. Albert Mayer developed a superblock-based city interspersed with green spaces, with an emphasis on cellular neighbourhoods and traffic segregation. His site plan took advantage of natural land characteristics; the land's gentle grade promoted proper drainage. Mayer stopped his work on the city after his architect-partner Matthew Nowicki died in a plane crash in 1950. Government officials recruited Le Corbusier to succeed Mayer and Nowicki, who utilized many elements of Mayer's original plan without attributing them to him. Le Corbusier designed many administration buildings, including the High Court, the Palace of Assembly, and the Secretariat Building. Le Corbusier 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. The capital city was officially shifted from Shimla to Chandigarh on 21 September 1953, though Chandigarh was formally inaugurated by India's first president,
Rajendra Prasad Rajendra Prasad (3 December 1884 – 28 February 1963) was an Indian politician, lawyer, Indian independence activist, journalist & scholar who served as the first president of Republic of India from 1950 to 1962. He joined the Indian Nationa ...
on 7 October 1953. During excavations at the time of the building of the city, some Indus valley artefacts were discovered, suggesting that the area that is today Chandigarh was home to some settlements of the
Indus valley civilisation The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300  BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form 2600 BCE to 1900& ...
. On 1 November 1966, after a long-drawn movement demanding the formation of a Punjabi state, the former state of Punjab was split in two. The western and northern mostly Punjabi-speaking portion became the present-day state of
Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...
, while the eastern and southern Hindi- and
Haryanvi Haryanvi ( ' or '), also known as Bangru, is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the state of Haryana in India, and to a lesser extent in Delhi. Haryanvi is considered to be part of the dialect group of Western Hindi, which also includes Kharib ...
-speaking areas became Haryana. Chandigarh ended up being located on the border of the two states, and both of them moved to incorporate the city into their respective territories. However, the city of Chandigarh was controlled directly by the central government and was to serve as the shared capital of the two states until a resolution could be reached. Present-day Chandigarh was also the site of a short-lived late 18th-century principality, with a small fort at Mani Majra. As of 2016, many villages that predate the city are still inhabited within the modern blocks of some sectors, including ''Burail'' and ''Ottawa'', while several other such villages lie on the margins of the city.


Geography


Location

Chandigarh is located by the foothills of the Shivalik Range of the
Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...
s in northwest India. It covers an area of approximately 114 km2. It borders the states of Punjab and Haryana. The exact geographic coordinates of Chandigarh are . It has an average elevation of 321 metres (1053 ft). The city, lying in the northern plains, includes a vast area of flat, fertile land. Its northeast covers sections of Bhabar, while the remainder of its terrain is part of the
Terai , image =Terai nepal.jpg , image_size = , image_alt = , caption =Aerial view of Terai plains near Biratnagar, Nepal , map = , map_size = , map_alt = , map_caption = , biogeographic_realm = Indomalayan realm , global200 = Terai-Duar savanna a ...
. Its surrounding cities are Mohali, New Chandigarh,
Patiala Patiala () is a city in southeastern Punjab, northwestern India. It is the fourth largest city in the state and is the administrative capital of Patiala district. Patiala is located around the '' Qila Mubarak'' (the 'Fortunate Castle') construct ...
,
Zirakpur Zirakpur is a satellite town, in Mohali District, Punjab, neighboring Mohali, Chandigarh in India. It is set on the foothills of Shivalik hills. It is part of the tehsil Dera Bassi. It is the gateway to Chandigarh from Delhi. It comprises ...
and
Rupnagar Rupnagar (; formerly known as Ropar is a city and a municipal council in Rupnagar district in the Indian state of Punjab. Rupnagar is a newly created fifth Divisional Headquarters of Punjab comprising Rupnagar, Mohali, and its adjoining dist ...
in Punjab, and
Panchkula Panchkula (PKL) is a planned city and district headquarter in the Panchkula district, part of the Ambala division in Haryana, India. The origin of the name Panchkula came from the place where five irrigation canals meet. Panchkula establis ...
and
Ambala Ambala () is a city and a municipal corporation in Ambala district in the state of Haryana, India, located on the border with the Indian state of Punjab and in proximity to both states capital Chandigarh. Politically, Ambala has two sub-are ...
in Haryana. Chandigarh is situated 44 km (28 miles) north of
Ambala Ambala () is a city and a municipal corporation in Ambala district in the state of Haryana, India, located on the border with the Indian state of Punjab and in proximity to both states capital Chandigarh. Politically, Ambala has two sub-are ...
, 229 km (143 miles) southeast of Amritsar, and 250 km (156 miles) north of
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...
.


Climate

Chandigarh has a humid subtropical climate (
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
: ''Cwa'') characterised by a seasonal rhythm: very hot summers, mild winters, unreliable rainfall and great temperature variation (). The average annual rainfall is . The city also receives occasional winter rains from the
Western Disturbance A western disturbance is an extratropical storm originating in the Mediterranean region that brings sudden winter rain to the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent, which extends as east as up to northern parts of Bangladesh and South easte ...
originating over the
Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...
. The western disturbances bring rain predominantly from mid-December until the end of April, which can be heavier sometimes with strong wind and hail if the weather turns colder (during March–April months), which usually proves disastrous to local crops. Cold winds usually tend to come from the Himalayas that lie to the north, which receive snowfall during wintertime. The city experiences the following seasons and the respective average temperatures: * Spring: During spring (from February-end to early April), temperatures vary between a maximum of and a minimum of . * Autumn: In autumn (from September-end to mid-November), the temperature may rise to a maximum of . Temperatures usually remain between in autumn. The minimum temperature is around . * Summer: The temperature in summer (from mid-April to June-end) usually peaks at around in mid-June, and generally varies between . * Monsoon: During the monsoon season (from early July to mid-September), Chandigarh receives moderate to heavy rainfall and sometimes heavy to very heavy rainfall (generally during August or September). Usually, the rain-bearing monsoon winds blow from the southwest/southeast. The city mostly receives heavy rain from the south (which is mainly persistent rain), but it generally receives most of its rain during the monsoon season either from the northwest or the northeast. The maximum amount of rain received by the city of Chandigarh during the monsoon season is in a single day. * Winter: Winters (November-end to February-end) are mild but can get chilly during peak winter weeks. Average temperatures in the winter generally fluctuate between a maximum of and a minimum of . Rain usually comes from the
west West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
during winter as a persistent rain for 2–3 days, sometimes with hailstorms.


Wildlife and biodiversity

Most of Chandigarh is covered by dense
banyan A banyan, also spelled "banian", is a fig that develops accessory trunks from adventitious prop roots, allowing the tree to spread outwards indefinitely. This distinguishes banyans from other trees with a strangler habit that begin life as a ...
and
eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as e ...
plantations.
Ashoka Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, s ...
, cassia, mulberry and other trees flourish in the forested ecosystem. The city has forests surrounding itself that sustain many animal and plant species.
Deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the re ...
, sambars,
barking deer Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, a local government district covering the town of Barking ** Municipal Borough of Barking, a historical local government dist ...
, parrots,
woodpecker Woodpeckers are part of the bird family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks, and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar, and the extreme polar regions. ...
s, and
peacock Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera '' Pavo'' and '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female peafowl are r ...
s inhabit the protected forests. Sukhna Lake hosts a variety of ducks and geese and attracts migratory birds from parts of Siberia and Japan in the winter season. The
Parrot Bird Sanctuary Chandigarh City Bird Sanctuary Chandigarh or Parrot Bird Sanctuary Chandigarh is a bird sanctuary situated in sector 21 of the city of Chandigarh, India. It is primarily habitat of parrots. Hundreds of parrots live here. They fly in flocks in the mornin ...
provides a home to a large number of parrots.
Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Sivalik Hills of Chandigarh city, near Sukhna Lake. It was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1998. Closed during rainy season. Pass is required to visit which is issued by Forest Department Office, Sec-19 ...
was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1998. File:Junglefowl, Sukhna wildlife sanctuary, Chandigarh, India.JPG, Junglefowl, Sukhna wildlife sanctuary, Chandigarh File:Sambar deer in City Forest Park,Chandigarh.jpg, Sambar deer in City Forest Park, Chandigarh Two parrots at parrot bird sanctuary, Chandigarh, India.jpg, Parakeets at the Parrot Bird Sanctuary File:Nilgai, Dhanas Lake, Chandigarh 03.jpg, Nilgai, Dhanas lake, Chandigarh


Heritage Trees of Chandigarh

Many trees in Chandigarh are given the status of the natural heritage of the city. The Chandigarh government has identified a list of 31 trees as Heritage Trees. The Department of Forest & Wildlife Chandigarh Administration is the nodal department for this purpose, and has published a detailed booklet about it. The trees in the city which are 100 years or more old have been given ''heritage status''.


Landscape

Sukhna Lake, a 3 km2 artificial rain-fed lake in Sector 1, was created in 1958 by damming the Sukhna Choe, a seasonal stream coming down from the
Shivalik Hills The Sivalik Hills, also known as the Shivalik Hills and Churia Hills, are a mountain range of the outer Himalayas that stretches over about from the Indus River eastwards close to the Brahmaputra River, spanning the northern parts of the Ind ...
. Chandigarh has a belt of parks running from sectors. It is known for its green belts and other special tourist parks. Sukhna Lake itself hosts the Garden of Silence. The Rock Garden, is located near the Sukhna Lake and has numerous sculptures made by using a variety of different discarded waste materials. The
Zakir Hussain Rose Garden Zakir Hussain Rose Garden, is a botanical garden in Chandigarh, India and spread over of land, with 50,000 rose-bushes of 1600 different species. Named after India's former president, Zakir Hussain and created in 1967 under the guidance of ...
(which is also Asia's largest rose garden) contains nearly 825 varieties of roses in it and more than 32,500 varieties of other medicinal plants and trees. Other gardens include the Garden of Fragrance in Sector 36,
Garden of Palms Garden of Palms or Palmgardens (Dutch: ''Palmentuin'') is a palm tree landscape garden in Paramaribo, Suriname. In addition to tall royal palms, the grounds are home to tropical birds and a "troop" of capuchin monkeys.Japanese Garden are traditional gardens whose designs are accompanied by Japanese aesthetics and philosophical ideas, avoid artificial ornamentation, and highlight the natural landscape. Plants and worn, aged materials are generally used by Japanese garden desi ...
in Sector 31, the Terraced Garden in Sector 33, Shanti Kunj Garden, the
Botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...
and the Bougainvillea Garden. There is also a Government museum and art gallery in Sector 10, Chandigarh.


Demographics


Population

India census, Chandigarh had a population of 1,055,450, giving it a density of about 9,252 (7,900 in 2001) persons per square kilometre. Males constitute 55% of the population and females 45%. The sex ratio is 818 females for every 1,000 males. The child sex ratio is 880 females per thousand males. Chandigarh has an effective literacy rate of 86.77% (based on population 7 years and above), higher than the national average; with male literacy of 90.81% and female literacy of 81.88%. 10.8% of the population is under 6 years of age. The population of Chandigarh forms 0.09 per cent of India in 2011. There has been a substantial decline in the population growth rate in Chandigarh, with just 17.10% growth between 2001 and 2011. Since the 1951–1961 period, the growth rate has decreased from 394.13% to 17.10%, a likely cause being the rapid urbanisation and development in neighbouring cities. The urban population constitutes 97.25% of the total and the rural population makes up 2.75%, as there are only a few villages within Chandigarh, situated on its Western and South-Eastern border, and the majority of people live in the heart of Chandigarh.


Languages

English is the sole official language of Chandigarh. The majority of the population speaks
Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...
(76.8%) while Punjabi is spoken by 22.03%. Government schools use English, Hindi, and Punjabi textbooks. The percentage of Punjabi speakers has fallen from 36% in 1981 to 22% in 2011, while that of Hindi speakers has increased from 51% to 78%.


Religion

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...
is the predominant religion of Chandigarh followed by 80.71% of the population.
Sikhism Sikhism (), also known as Sikhi ( pa, ਸਿੱਖੀ ', , from pa, ਸਿੱਖ, lit=disciple', 'seeker', or 'learner, translit=Sikh, label=none),''Sikhism'' (commonly known as ''Sikhī'') originated from the word ''Sikh'', which comes fro ...
is the second most popular religion in the city, followed by 13.11% of the people, followed by Islam at 4.87%. Minorities are
Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...
at 0.83%,
Jains Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...
at 0.19%, Buddhists at 0.11%, those that didn't state a religion at 0.10%, and others are 0.02%. There are several places of worship located all over the city, with many in each sector. One such historic temple located in the heart of the city is
Mata Basanti Devi Mandir Mata may refer to: Places * Mata, Iran, a village in Kerman Province, Iran * Mata, Israel, a Moshav in the Judaean Mountains, south-west of Jerusalem, not far from Beit Shemesh * Mata, Rio Grande do Sul, town in Brazil * Mata Island, in the Hudso ...
at Sector 24 of the city. The temple is dedicated to Goddess Shitala and specially visited by devotees during first Tuesday of Chaitra month after
Holi Holi (), also known as the Festival of Colours, the Festival of Spring, and the Festival of Love,The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) p. 874 "Holi /'həʊli:/ noun a Hindu spring festival ...". is an ancient Hindu religious festival ...
. Chandi Mandir,
Mata Mansa Devi Mandir Mata Mansa Devi is a Hindu temple dedicated to goddess Mansa Devi, a form of Shakti, in the Panchkula district of the Indian state of Haryana. The temple complex is spread of of the Shivalik foothills in the village of Bilaspur, near Sect ...
and Mata Jayanti Devi Mandir are important Hindu temples located near Chandigarh. Nada Sahib Gurudwara, a famous place for Sikh worship lies in its vicinity. Apart from this, there are a couple of historical mosques in Manimajra and Burail. The
Roman Catholic Diocese of Simla and Chandigarh The Roman Catholic Diocese of Simla and Chandigarh ( la, Simlen(sis) et Chandigarhen(sis)) is a diocese located in the cities of Simla and Chandigarh in the Ecclesiastical province of Delhi in India. History * 4 June 1959: Established as Dioc ...
serves the Catholics of the city, with a co-cathedral in the city. Most of the convent schools of Chandigarh are governed by this institution.


Government and politics


Administrator of the Union Territory

Article 239 of the
Constitution of India The Constitution of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental ...
provides for the administration of the Union Territories by the
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
through an administrator. Since 1984 the Governor of Punjab has served concurrently as the administrator of Chandigarh.
Banwarilal Purohit Banwarilal Purohit (born 16 April 1940) is an Indian politician who is the current and 29th Governor of Punjab, India and Administrator of Chandigarh as of 29 August 2021. He was the former Governor of Tamil Nadu from 2017 to 2021, and for ...
is the administrator of the union territory since September 2021.


Politics

Chandigarh, as a union territory, is not entitled to a state-level election: thus State Assembly elections are not held and it is directly controlled by the
central government A central government is the government that is a controlling power over a unitary state. Another distinct but sovereign political entity is a federal government, which may have distinct powers at various levels of government, authorized or dele ...
. One seat for Chandigarh is allocated in the
Lok Sabha elections The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...
held every five years.
Kirron Kher Kirron Anupam Kher (also Kiran ''Indian Express'', 12 May 2002. or, Kiron born 14 June 1952) is an Indian politician; theatre, film and television actress; television personality; singer; entertainment producer; and a member of the Bharatiya Ja ...
(
BJP The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mo ...
) is the
Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
elected in
2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
from the Chandigarh Lok Sabha constituency.


Civic administration

The city is governed by a civic administration or local government headed by Municipal Commissioner Anindita Mitra and
Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...
Sarbjit Kaur. The city comprises 35 wards represented by 35 elected
councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...
s, and also nominates 9 councillors. On 27 March 2022, Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced that the Chandigarh employees who were working under the Punjab service rules until 2022, would be working under the central civil services rules from 1 April 2022. The move was criticised by political parties such as the AAP, the INC and the Akali Dal. Composition of Chandigarh Municipal Corporation after
2021 Chandigarh Municipal Corporation election The elections for the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation were held on 24 December 2021. 203 candidates campaigned for 35 seats in the Chandigarh election. Election results were declared on 27 December 2021. Contesting the Chandigarh Municipal ...
as of December 2021:


Civic utilities

The prime responsibilities of the civic body
Municipal Corporation Chandigarh The Municipal Corporation Chandigarh (MCC), also known as Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, is the civic body that governs the city of Chandigarh, the capital of Punjab and Haryana. History The Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh, India was ...
, are to ensure cleanliness and sanitation in the city, illumination of street lights, maintenance of parks, and sewerage disposal. The city has both brick and pipe sewers laid in four phases. In September 2020, the civic body announced that it would upgrade and renew the 50-year-old sewerage system. The pilot project for the 24x7 water supply is expected to begin in Chandigarh in May 2021, which was initially to start in September 2020 and end in March 2022. On 8 April 2021, the Chandigarh Smart City Ltd (CSCL) board is yet to take the final decision. In 2021, the BJP ruled corporation had increased the
water tariff A water tariff (often called ''water rate'' in the United States and Canada) is a price assigned to water supplied by a public utility through a piped network to its customers. The term is also often applied to wastewater tariffs. Water and wastewat ...
by 1.5 to 2.5 times. This created a widespread discontent among the residents. In 2021, there was an acute shortage of parking spaces. The problem was aggravated by an increase of 17% in parking rates by the Municipal Corporation. The increase in the waste collection charges, water tariff and property tax rates during the last five years 2016 to 2021 were unpopular among the public.


Cleanliness

In 2016, Chandigarh was the second cleanest city of India. In the years that followed, garbage from the city was not disposed of properly. The lack of a proper process or mechanism led to the garbage piled up at the Dadu Majra garbage dump site. In 2021, Chandigarh fell 66 positions in the list of cleanest cities in India, once a point of pride for the city. The fall in cleanliness became an important poll issue. The residents were upset with the downfall in the cleanliness. The government's handling of the
COVID-19 pandemic in India The COVID-19 pandemic in India is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). As of , according to Indian government figures, India has the second-highest n ...
damaged the BJP's image as the voters felt that they were not given desired help in getting the hospital beds and medical oxygen from their elected representatives. The sitting Councillors were accused of not being found to be approachable when the public needed support. Complaints that No major relief measure was taken by the local government were raised.


Economy

Chandigarh has been rated as one of the "Wealthiest Towns" of India.Chandigarh has been rated as the "Wealthiest Town" of India.http://chandigarh.gov.in/knowchd_redfinechd.htm The
Reserve Bank of India The Reserve Bank of India, chiefly known as RBI, is India's central bank and regulatory body responsible for regulation of the Indian banking system. It is under the ownership of Ministry of Finance, Government of India. It is responsible f ...
ranked Chandigarh as the third-largest deposit centre and seventh largest credit centre nationwide as of June 2012. With an average household yearly income of , Chandigarh is one of the richest towns in India. Chandigarh's gross state domestic product for 2014–15 is estimated at $0.29 trillion (
short scale The long and short scales are two of several naming systems for integer powers of ten which use some of the same terms for different magnitudes. For whole numbers smaller than 1,000,000,000 (109), such as one thousand or one million, the t ...
) (US$4.3 billion) at current prices. According to a 2014 survey, Chandigarh is ranked 4th in the top 50 cities identified globally as "emerging outsourcing and IT services destinations" ahead of cities like Beldon (Amritsar).


Employment

The government is a major employer in Chandigarh, with three governments having their base here, those being the Chandigarh Administration, the Punjab government and the Haryana government. A significant percentage of Chandigarh's population, therefore, consists of people who are either working for one of these governments or have retired from government service, mainly armed forces. For this reason, Chandigarh is often called a "Pensioner's Paradise". Ordnance Cable Factory of the Ordnance Factories Board has been set up by the
government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...
. There is about 15 medium-to-large industries, including two in the public sector. In addition, Chandigarh has over 2,500 units registered under the small-scale sector. The city's important industries are paper manufacturing, basic metals and alloys, and machinery. Other industries in the city are food products, sanitary ware, auto parts, machine tools, pharmaceuticals, and electrical appliances. The main occupation here is trade and business. However, the
Punjab and Haryana High Court Punjab and Haryana High Court is the common High Court for the Indian states of Punjab and Haryana and the Union Territory of Chandigarh based in Chandigarh, India. Sanctioned strength of Judges of this High Court is 85 consisting of 64 ...
, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), the availability of an IT Park, and more than a hundred government schools provide other job opportunities to people. Four major trade promotion organisations have their offices in Chandigarh. These are The Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry, ASSOCHAM India in Sector 8, Chandigarh, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry, (FICCI) the PhD Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) which has its regional headquarters at Sector 31, Chandigarh. Chandigarh IT Park (also known as Rajiv Gandhi Chandigarh Technology Park) is the city's attempt to break into the
information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of Data (computing), data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information te ...
world. Chandigarh's infrastructure, proximity to
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...
, Haryana, Punjab, and
Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...
, and the IT talent pool attracts IT businesses looking for office space in the area. Major Indian firms and multinational corporations like Quark,
Infosys Infosys Limited is an Indian multinational information technology company that provides business consulting, information technology and outsourcing services. The company was founded in Pune and is headquartered in Bangalore. Infosys is the s ...
,
EVRY EVRY A/S was a Norwegian information technology company that supplies services relating to computing, including operation, outsourcing, and online banking. The company is headquartered in Oslo. It was established through a merger between EDB Bu ...
, TechMahindra,
Airtel Bharti Airtel Limited, commonly known as (d/b/a) Airtel, is an Indian multinational telecommunications services company based in New Delhi. It operates in 18 countries across South Asia and Africa, as well as the Channel Islands. Current ...
,
Amadeus IT Group Amadeus IT Group, S.A. () is a major Spanish IT provider for the global travel and tourism industry. Company profile The company is structured around two areas: its global distribution system and its Information Technology business. Amadeus pro ...
, DLF have set up base in the city and its suburbs. The work of the Chandigarh Metro was slated to start by 2019. It was opposed by the
Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
from Chandigarh,
Kirron Kher Kirron Anupam Kher (also Kiran ''Indian Express'', 12 May 2002. or, Kiron born 14 June 1952) is an Indian politician; theatre, film and television actress; television personality; singer; entertainment producer; and a member of the Bharatiya Ja ...
. With an estimated cost of around $109 billion including 50% funds from the governments of Punjab and Haryana and 25% from Chandigarh and government of India, funds from the Japanese government were proposed to include approximately 56% of the cost. However, the project was turned down owing to its non-feasibility. Kher promised a film city for Chandigarh. After winning the seat, she said that she had difficulty in acquiring land in Chandigarh. Her proposal was accepted by the Chandigarh Administration and the
film city Film City may refer to * Film City, Mumbai * Noida Film City * Ramoji Film City, Hyderabad * Prayag Film City The Prayag Film City, also known as the Midnapore Film City or Chandrakona Film City or Bengal film city is an i ...
is proposed to be set up in Sarangpur, Chandigarh. This has been considered as a source of employment in the future.


Culture


Festivals

Every year, in September or October during the festival of
Navratri Navaratri is an annual Hindu festival observed in the honour of the goddess Durga. It spans over nine nights (and ten days), first in the month of Chaitra (March/April of the Gregorian calendar), and again in the month of Sharada. It is o ...
, many associations and organisations hold a ''
Ramlila Ramlila (Rāmlīlā) (literally 'Rama's lila or play') is any dramatic folk re-enactment of the life of Rama according to the ancient Hindu epic ''Ramayana'' or secondary literature based on it such as the ''Ramcharitmanas''. It particularly ...
'' event, which has been conducted here for over 50 years. The Rose Festival in
Zakir Hussain Rose Garden Zakir Hussain Rose Garden, is a botanical garden in Chandigarh, India and spread over of land, with 50,000 rose-bushes of 1600 different species. Named after India's former president, Zakir Hussain and created in 1967 under the guidance of ...
every February shows thousands of subspecies of roses. The Mango Festival is held during the
monsoons A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscill ...
, and other festivals are held at Sukhna Lake.


Transport


Road

Chandigarh has the largest number of vehicles per capita in India. Wide, well-maintained roads and parking spaces all over the city ease local transport. The Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU) operates public transport buses from its Inter State Bus Terminals (ISBT) in Sectors 17 and 43 of the city. CTU also operates frequent bus services to the neighbouring states of
Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...
,
Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land a ...
,
Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...
, and to
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...
. Chandigarh is well-connected by road to the following nearby cities, by the following highway routes: *
NH 7 National Highway 7 (NH 7) is a highway connecting Fazilka (Punjab) to Mana (Uttarakhand) in India. It passes through the Indian states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. The NH-7 (old NH-58) connects Hindu pilgrim centres ...
to
Patiala Patiala () is a city in southeastern Punjab, northwestern India. It is the fourth largest city in the state and is the administrative capital of Patiala district. Patiala is located around the '' Qila Mubarak'' (the 'Fortunate Castle') construct ...
in the southwest. * NH 152 to
Ambala Ambala () is a city and a municipal corporation in Ambala district in the state of Haryana, India, located on the border with the Indian state of Punjab and in proximity to both states capital Chandigarh. Politically, Ambala has two sub-are ...
and
Kaithal Kaithal () is a city and municipal council in the Kaithal district of the Indian state of Haryana. Kaithal was previously a part of Karnal district and later, Kurukshetra district until 1 November 1989, when it became the headquarters of the K ...
in the south (
NH 44 National Highway 44 (NH 44) is a major north–south National Highway in India and is the longest in the country. It passes through the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, in addition to the states of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, ...
catches up from Ambala to Panipat-
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...
). * NH 5 to
Shimla Shimla (; ; also known as Simla, the official name until 1972) is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared as the summer capital of British India. After independence, the ...
in the northeast, and to
Ludhiana Ludhiana ( ) is the most populous and the largest city in the Indian state of Punjab. The city has an estimated population of 1,618,879 2011 census and distributed over , making Ludhiana the most densely populated urban centre in the state. I ...
in the west.


Air

Chandigarh Airport Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport is a civil enclave customs airport serving the city of Chandigarh. The airport is located in the village of Jhiurheri, Mohali, Punjab. The airport caters to six domestic airlines and connects Chandig ...
has scheduled commercial flights to the major cities of India. An international terminal was completed in 2015, and international flight routes to Dubai and Sharjah were started. The runway is located in Chandigarh, while the terminal is in Mohali. The governments of
Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...
and
Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land a ...
each have a 24.5% stake in the international terminal building, while the Airports Authority of India holds a 51% stake.


Rail

Chandigarh Junction railway station lies in the
Northern Railway zone The Northern Railway (NR) is one of the 19 Railway zones of India and the northernmost zone of the Indian Railways. It is headquartered at Baroda House in New Delhi. History Officially notified as a new railway zone on 14 April 1952, i ...
of the
Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tota ...
network and provides connectivity to most of the regions of India. The railway station also serves the neighbouring town of Panchkula. There were long-standing proposals to develop a metro rail system in the city, which were formally scrapped in 2017.


Education

There are numerous educational institutions in Chandigarh. These range from privately and publicly operated schools to colleges. These include
Panjab University Panjab University (PU) is a collegiate public state university located in Chandigarh, Punjab. Funded through both State and Union governments, it is considered a state university. It traces its origins to the University of the Punjab in Laho ...
,
Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) is a public medical university in Chandigarh, India. It is an ' Institute of National Importance'. It has educational, medical research, and training facilities for its stude ...
(PGIMER),
Punjab Engineering College Punjab Engineering College (abbreviated PEC or PEC Chandigarh) is a public research & technical institution in Chandigarh. It was founded in 1921 in Lahore, established in Chandigarh in 1953, and focuses on the field of applied sciences, particu ...
, National Institute of Technical Teacher Training and Research (NITTTR), Post Graduate Government College, and DAV College. According to the Chandigarh administration's department of education, there are a total of 115 government schools in Chandigarh, including Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 16,
Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs) is a system of central schools for talented students predominantly from rural areas in India. They are run by Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti, Noida, an autonomous organization under the Department of School Educa ...
, Bhavan Vidyalaya, convent schools like St. Anne's Convent School,
St. John's High School, Chandigarh St. John's High School is an Edmund Rice Educational Institute, founded by the Congregation of Christian Brothers in 1959. The school building was designed by prominent French architect Pierre Jeanneret. It is located in Sector 26, Chandigarh. ...
, Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School and
Carmel Convent School Carmel Convent School is a group of Catholic schools in India. It has branches in Delhi, Giridih, Gorakhpur, Bhopal, Bangalore, Rourkela, Khopoli, Faridabad, Jorhat, Chandigarh, Gwalior, Kolkata, Durgapur, Madhupur, Dhanbad, Mancherial, Luckn ...
, and other private schools like
Delhi Public School Delhi Public School (also known as DPS) is the largest public school institution in India. The classes are from KG I to Class XII (Science, Arts and Commerce). It is affiliated to CBSE. Delhi Public School may refer to: * Delhi Public School Socie ...
and D.A.V. Public School.


Sports

The
Sector 16 Stadium The Sector 16 Stadium is a cricket stadium in Chandigarh, India. It hosted its first One Day International match in January 1985 and its only Test match in 1990. It has hosted only four matches. The likes of Kapil Dev, Chetan Sharma and Yogra ...
has been a venue of several international cricket matches, but it has lost prominence after the
PCA Stadium The Inderjit Singh Bindra Stadium is a cricket ground located in Mohali, Punjab. It is popularly referred to as the Mohali Stadium. The stadium was built by Geetanshu Kalra is home to the Punjab team. The construction of the stadium took aroun ...
was constructed in Mohali. It still provides a platform for cricketers in this region to practice and play inter-state matches. The Chandigarh Golf Club has a 7,202-yard, 18-hole course known for its challenging narrow fairways, dogleg 7th hole, and floodlighting on the first nine holes.


Tourist attractions

The main
tourist attraction A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or an exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of natural ...
s in Chandigarh are:


Natural landscape

*
Rock Garden of Chandigarh The Rock Garden of Chandigarh is a sculpture garden for rock enthusiasts in Chandigarh, India. It is also known as Nek Chand Saini's Rock Garden of Nathupur after its founder Nek Chand Saini, a government official who started building the ga ...
* Garden of Springs, Chandigarh *
Zakir Hussain Rose Garden Zakir Hussain Rose Garden, is a botanical garden in Chandigarh, India and spread over of land, with 50,000 rose-bushes of 1600 different species. Named after India's former president, Zakir Hussain and created in 1967 under the guidance of ...
* Japanese Garden, Chandigarh * Parrot Bird Sanctuary, Chandigarh * Mahendra Chaudhary Zoological Park * Sukhna Lake *
Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Sivalik Hills of Chandigarh city, near Sukhna Lake. It was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1998. Closed during rainy season. Pass is required to visit which is issued by Forest Department Office, Sec-19 ...
*
Rose Festival (Chandigarh) The Rose Festival of Chandigarh is a floral festival held every year in February in the Zakir Hussain Rose Garden of sector 16, Chandigarh, India. The 2018 festival was held from 23 February 2018 to 25 February 2018, and featured musical events, ...
*
Heritage Trees of Chandigarh Many trees in the Union Territory of Chandigarh are given a privileged part of the natural heritage of the city which serves as an important green landmark, so the Chandigarh government came up with a list of 31 trees which are called Herit ...
* Sukhna Interpretation Centre


Museums

*
Government Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh Government Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh, is a premier museum of North India having collections of Gandharan sculptures, sculptures from ancient and medieval India, Pahari and Rajasthani miniature paintings. It owes its existence to the ...
*
Gandhi Bhawan, Chandigarh The Gandhi Bhawan is a major landmark of the city of Chandigarh, India, and a center dedicated to the study of the words and works of Mohandas K. Gandhi. It was designed by the architect Pierre Jeanneret, a cousin of Le Corbusier. Design It i ...
*
Open Hand Monument The ''Open Hand Monument'' is a symbolic structure designed by the architect Le Corbusier and located in the Capitol Complex of the Indian city and union territory of Chandigarh. It is the emblem and symbol of the Government of Chandigarh and s ...


Architecture

*
Open Hand Monument The ''Open Hand Monument'' is a symbolic structure designed by the architect Le Corbusier and located in the Capitol Complex of the Indian city and union territory of Chandigarh. It is the emblem and symbol of the Government of Chandigarh and s ...
* Palace of Assembly, Chandigarh *
Chandigarh Capitol Complex Chandigarh Capitol Complex, located in the sector-1 of Chandigarh city in India, is a government compound designed by the architect Le Corbusier and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is spread over an area of around 100 acres and is a prime ma ...
* Secretariat Building, Chandigarh


Others

*
Sector-17, Chandigarh Sector-17 or Sector-17 Plaza is a retail and entertainment hub in Chandigarh. It is a tree-lined pedestrian plaza with fountains and stores. History Sector-17 was constructed at the same time when the city of Chandigarh was built. It was turne ...
* Burail Fort *
Manimajra Fort Manimajra Fort, is a fort situated in Mani Majra, Chandigarh (city of Indian Union). It is over 360 years old and has become more popular with the shooting of the Oscar-winning movie Zero Dark Thirty ''Zero Dark Thirty'' is a 2012 American ...
* Chandi Mandir *
Elante Mall Elante mall ( Nexus Malls ) is a shopping mall in the city of Chandigarh in India. With the gross leasable area of , it is the 7th largest shopping mall in Northern India and the 10th largest in India.This mall is partially owned by Ahad famil ...
* Paras Downtown Square * Tagore Theatre File:Nek Chand Garden (6175284222).jpg, Rock Garden File:Pedalos - Sukhna Lake - Chandigarh 2016-08-07 9003.JPG, Sukhna Lake File:Rose Garden Chandigarh.jpg, Rose Garden File:Palace of Assembly Chandigarh.jpg, Palace of Assembly, Capitol Complex File:Government Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh..jpg, Government Museum and Art Gallery


Postcolonial significance


Background

Nehru said of Chandigarh when he first visited the site of the new city in 1952: "Let this be a new town, symbolic of the freedom of India, unfettered by the traditions of the past, an expression of the nation's faith in the future". For Nehru, Chandigarh represented a vision of how a new planned city could be a canvas for the regeneration of the nation itself after centuries of oppression under British colonial rule and the dilution of Indian character from the nation's towns. Guided by the architectural optics of Le Corbusier, the development of Chandigarh was part of a state-driven exercise to break from the traditions of imperialism in city making and begin the process of healing from the injustices suffered. To the extent that Chandigarh epitomises the destructive influence of the British, in the impetus of its creation as a solution to the otherwise violent partitioning of territory between India and Pakistan, it represents an early ideological symbol for the birth of India's future. The selection of the physical site involved an extensive vetting process. Many existing towns in Punjab were surveyed as options for the new capital and dismissed for poor performance concerning factors such as military defensibility and capacity for accommodating potential refugee influxes. The construction of a new town in Chandigarh was determined to be the best option due to its relative strength in these factors as well as its proximity to the national capital, New Delhi, its central location within the state of Punjab, its abundance of fecund land and its beautiful natural landscape.


Modernism in new town design

Off the back of this conflation of assets Chandigarh then was well poised to serve a function as a city-building project in national identity. From a federal policy perspective, the development of the new town became a tool in India for modernisation and an intended driver of economic activity, legal reform, and regional growth as well as a significant agent for the
decolonisation Decolonization or decolonisation is the undoing of colonialism, the latter being the process whereby imperial nations establish and dominate foreign territories, often overseas. Some scholars of decolonization focus especially on independence m ...
project. As Britain's grip on their empire began to weaken their accelerated withdrawal between the beginning of the second world war and 1947 left their former colony in states of disarray and disorganisation, and policymakers for the new Indian government were required to contend with issues such as rapid rural depopulation, urban congestion, and poverty. As well as in Chandigarh this policy tool was implemented in the creation of new capital cities in
Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. The region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Ekamra Kshetra'' (area (''kshetra'') adorned with mango trees (''ekamra'')). Bhubaneswar is ...
and
Gandhinagar Gandhinagar (, ) is the capital of the state of Gujarat in India. Gandhinagar is located approximately 23 km north of Ahmedabad, on the west central point of the Industrial corridor between Delhi, the political capital of India, and Mum ...
, and more broadly throughout India in the 112 planned cities created between independence and 1971, purposed to absorb migration from those regions in demise after being abandoned by the British and provide hubs for growing industries such as in steel and energy. These examples from a genealogy of utopian urban forms developed in post-independence India as a panacea for issues related to
underdevelopment Underdevelopment, in the context of international development, reflects a broad condition or phenomena defined and critiqued by theorists in fields such as economics, development studies, and postcolonial studies. Used primarily to distinguish sta ...
as well as post-independence complications to do with separatist religious conflict and the resulting diplomatic tensions. Chandigarh is the first example of a state-funded master-planned modernisation scheme. These "urban utopias" attempt to enforce nation-building policies through a federalised rule of law at a regional level, and diffuse postcolonial urbanism which codes justice in its design. The intent is that the economic success and progressivism of cities such as Chandigarh as a lightning rod for social change would gradually be emulated at the scale of the nation. Chandigarh was for Nehru and Le Corbusier an embodiment of the egalitarian potential offered by
modernism Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...
, where the machine age would complete the liberation of the nation's citizens through the productive capacity of industrial technology and the relative ease of constructing civic facilities such as dams, hospitals, and schools; the very antithesis of the conservative and traditional legacy of colonialism. Though built as a state capital Chandigarh came to be focused on industry and higher education. The specialisation of these new towns in particular functions represents a crucial aspect of the modernisation process as a decolonising enterprise, in completing a national portfolio where each town forms a part of the utopian model for contemporary India. The post-colonialism of Chandigarh is rooted in the transformation of the political ideas of those such as Nehru who generated a new Indian nationalism through the design of newly built forms. Scholars such as
Edward Said Edward Wadie Said (; , ; 1 November 1935 – 24 September 2003) was a Palestinian-American professor of literature at Columbia University, a public intellectual, and a founder of the academic field of postcolonial studies.Robert Young, ''Whit ...
have emphasised the sinister nature of nostalgia and the romanticisation of colonial architecture in newly independent colonies as artefacts that perpetuate the ideological legacy of the hegemony and replicate the hierarchy of power even after decolonisation. Insofar as modernism in architecture (which defined town planning under the Nehru era of rule) represents an active radical break from tradition and a colonial past even the very presence of Le Corbusier has been recognised as an indelible resistance to the British construction legacy, as he provided the first non-British influence on design thinking in India, enabling a generational shift in the contemporary cohort of architects and planners to be hired by the state throughout the rest of the century who were initiated under Modernist conditioning. As early as the 1950s the presence of the International Style could be detected in the design of houses in India, "whether
mistri Mistri, or Mistry, is a term for a master-craftsman, foreman or supervisor of manual workers in India. Mistri is being replaced with "supervisor" and other terms, as for example by the Indian Railway who replaced it with supervisor in 2005. The w ...
or architect-designed". The development of low-cost housing was a priority for Chandigarh, and the modern forms designed by Corbusier are characterised by a dispensing with colonial forms focused on classic aesthetics and a refocusing on strategies such as using narrow frontages and orientation for minimising direct exposure to the sun and maximising natural ventilation and efficient cost while providing modern amenities in the International Style aesthetic. These developments are credited as the beginning of a "Chandigarh architecture", inspiring gradual experimentation with form and an "Indianising" of the International Style which precipitated the formation of the country's new cultural identity in town design.


Criticisms

Criticisms are well established regarding the implementation of the postcolonial vision of Nehru and Le Corbusier, and the critical emphasis on its influence. Claims have been made that the focus on Corbusier's architect-centred discourse erases the plural authorship of the narrative of Chandigarh's development, arguing that it was, in fact, hybridity of values and of "contested modernities" of Western and indigenous Indian origin and cultural exchanges rather than an uncontested administrative enterprise. Such criticism is consistent with claims that decolonisation in India has marked a shift from segregation based on race to segregation based on class, and that planned cities are truly "designed" ones which represent the values and interests of a westernised middle-class Indian elite which ignore the complexities of India's diverse ethnic and cultural landscape and enabled neocolonial hierarchies such as the imposition of the Hindi language on non-conforming castes. Brent C. Brolin argues that Le Corbusier ignored Indian preferences in designing the housing and communities and that the residents have done what they can to recreate their accustomed lifestyle. Furthermore, the early over-saturation of the minimalist International Style in building design in Chandigarh has attracted criticisms of effecting a "democratic, self-effacing banality", though this criticism is perhaps negligent of how this was necessary for galvanising higher standards of urban living throughout the country.


Notable people

*
Sarbjit Bahga Sarbjit Singh Bahga is an Indian architect, author and photo-artist. He is known for designing Vidya Sagar Institute of Mental Health, Amritsar, India which was featured in the Guinness World Records for ''Longest covered concrete corridor''. ...
, architect, author, photo-artist *
Binny Bansal Binny Bansal (born 1982/1983) is an Indian billionaire Internet entrepreneur. In 2007 he co-founded the e-commerce platform Flipkart with Sachin Bansal (no relation) and served as the chief operating officer until 11 January 2016 and was then ...
, founder of
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, billionaire *
Sachin Bansal Sachin Bansal (born August 5, 1981) is an Indian entrepreneur. He is best known as the founder of Flipkart During his over 11 year career at Flipkart, Bansal was CEO and chairman. In 2018, Bansal exited Flipkart following the Walmart deal. In ...
, founder of
Flipkart Flipkart Private Limited is an Indian e-commerce company, headquartered in Bengaluru, and incorporated in Singapore as a private limited company. The company initially focused on online book sales before expanding into other product categorie ...
, billionaire * Neerja Bhanot, youngest
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ee, flight attendant and model * Sabeer Bhatia, Indian-American entrepreneur who founded
Hotmail Outlook.com is a webmail service that is part of the Microsoft 365 product family. It offers mail, Calendaring software, calendaring, Address book, contacts, and Task management, tasks services. Founded in 1996 by Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smit ...
*
Jaspal Bhatti Jaspal Singh Bhatti (3 March 1955 – 25 October 2012) was an Indian television personality known for his satirical take on the problems of the common man. He is most well known for his television series '' Flop Show, Full Tension'' and mi ...
, Padma Bhushan awardee, film and TV actor and renowned satirist * Abhinav Bindra, Olympic gold medalist *
Nek Chand Nek Chand Saini (15 December 1924 – 12 June 2015) was a self-taught Indian artist, known for building the Rock Garden of Chandigarh, an eighteen-acre sculpture garden in the city of Chandigarh. Early life and background Nek Chand hailed fro ...
, Indian artist and creator of the Rock Garden of Chandigarh *
Surveen Chawla Surveen Chawla (born 1 August 1984) is an Indian actress and dancer who appears in Hindi films and television. She started her career with television shows like Kahin to Hoga and Kajjal. She is known for her roles in movies and shows like ''Hat ...
, Punjabi film actress *
Gurleen Chopra Gurleen Chopra, also known as Gurlen Kaur Chopraa, is an Indian actress and model. She has appeared in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Marathi, Kannada and Punjabi films. Early life Gurleen Chopra was selected as "Miss Chandigarh" in her early age. Sh ...
, Punjabi actress * Vivek Dahiya, actor * Harita Kaur Deol, pilot *
Kapil Dev Kapil Dev Ramlal Nikhanj (Pronunciation: əpiːl deːʋ born 6 January 1959) is an Indian former cricketer. He was a fast-medium bowler and a hard-hitting middle-order batsman, and was named by '' Wisden'' as the Indian Cricketer of the Cen ...
, former Indian international cricketer *
Harmeet Dhillon Harmeet Kaur Dhillon (born 1969) is an American lawyer and Republican Party official. She is the former vice chairwoman of the California Republican Party, and a National Committeewoman of the Republican National Committee for California. She is ...
, American lawyer * Mukesh Gautam, Punjabi film director *
Yami Gautam Yami Gautam Dhar (born 28 November 1988) is an Indian actress known predominantly for her work in Hindi films. She sprang into prominence after doing some commercials for Glow & Lovely and began her acting career in television shows, followed ...
, Indian film actress *
Mahie Gill Rimpy Kaur "Mahie" Gill (born 19 December 1975) is an Indian actress, working in the Hindi and Punjabi film industries. She is best known for her role of Paro in Anurag Kashyap's critically acclaimed Hindi film '' Dev.D'', a modern take on Sara ...
, Indian actress *
Sandesh Jhingan Sandesh Jhingan (born 21 July 1993) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a defender for the Indian Super League club Bengaluru and the Indian national team. He won the AIFF emerging player of the year award in 2014 and made ...
, Indian international professional footballer * Mamta Joshi, Sufi singer *
Gurbani Judge Gurbani Judge, better known as VJ Bani and also Bani J, is an Indian fitness model, actress and a former MTV India presenter. She is known for participating in '' MTV Roadies 4'', '' Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi 4'' and ''Bigg Boss 10''. Car ...
,
MTV India MTV India is an Indian pay television channel specialising in music, reality and youth culture programming. It was launched in 1996 as the Indian version of MTV and is owned by Viacom 18, a joint venture operation between MTV International ow ...
VJ and actress * AJ Kanwar, award-winning dermatologist, former professor and head, PGI, Chandigarh *
Kirron Kher Kirron Anupam Kher (also Kiran ''Indian Express'', 12 May 2002. or, Kiron born 14 June 1952) is an Indian politician; theatre, film and television actress; television personality; singer; entertainment producer; and a member of the Bharatiya Ja ...
, Indian actress and theatre artist (also BJP M.P. from the city) *
Aparshakti Khurana Aparshakti Khurana (born 18 November 1987) is an Indian actor, radio jockey, comedian, singer, music director, television host and a former Indian cricketer who was the captain of Haryana U-19 Cricket Team. He is the younger brother of actor A ...
, Indian film actor * Ayushmann Khurrana, Indian film actor *
Rochak Kohli Rochak Kohli is an Indian music director for Bollywood films. He made his music debut in Shoojit Sircar's romantic comedy ''Vicky Donor'' with ''Pani Da Rang "Pani Da Rang" ( en, "The Colour of Water") is a song from the 2012 Indian film ...
, music composer, singer, lyricist *
Sargun Mehta Sargun Mehta Dubey (; born 6 September 1988) is an Indian actress, model and television host. She has received three PTC Punjabi Film Awards and two Filmfare Awards Punjabi for her work in Punjabi Cinema. Mehta began acting in theatre product ...
, Punjabi film actress *
Anjum Moudgil Anjum Moudgil (born 5 January 1994) is an Indian sport shooter. She is from Chandigarh and represents Punjab. She is supported by GoSports Foundation through the Rahul Dravid Athlete Mentorship Programme. Early life Anjum took up shooting whi ...
, Indian rifle Shooter *
Prince Narula Prince Narula (born 24 November 1990) is an Indian model and actor. Predominantly known for his performance in reality shows, he has also acted in fiction serials. Narula has won the reality TV shows '' MTV Roadies 12'' (2015), '' MTV Splitsvil ...
, actor * Ramesh Kumar Nibhoria, winner of Ashden Awards-UK *
Gul Panag Gul Panag (born Gulkirat Kaur Panag, 3 January 1979; Chandigarh, India) is an Indian actress, voice actress, model, and former beauty queen who competed in the Miss Universe pageant. Panag began her career in Bollywood with the 2003 film '' Dho ...
, Indian film actress and social activist *
Neel Kamal Puri Neelkamal Puri (born 14 February 1956) is an Indian author, columnist and a college teacher. Born in Ludhiana, Punjab, she grew up in the princely state of Patiala, where she did her schooling from the Yadavindra Public School. She was one of th ...
novelist, columnist *
Gajendra Pal Singh Raghava Gajendra Pal Singh Raghava is an Indian bio-informatician and head of computational biology at the Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology. Personal Early years and education Raghava was born in village Nagla Karan, Bulandshahr dist ...
, bioinformatics scientist * Kulraj Randhawa, Punjabi film actress * Mohinder Singh Randhawa, a civil servant who had a major role in establishing Chandigarh *
Harnaaz Sandhu Harnaaz Kaur Sandhu (born 3 March 2000) is an Indian model, actress, and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Universe 2021. Sandhu had been previously crowned Miss Diva Universe 2021, and is the third entrant from India to win Miss ...
, winner of
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*
Mohit Sehgal Mohit Sehgal (born 3 December 1985) is an Indian television actor. He is known for his roles of Samrat in ''Miley Jab Hum Tum'', Somendra in '' Sarojini - Ek Nayi Pehal'' and Jay in '' Naagin 5''. Career After an unnoticed role in the 2007 f ...
, TV actor *
Piare Lal Sharma Piare Lal Sharma (1902–2006) was a writer from India, author of several books including ''India Betrayed''. From the mid 1960s to his death, Piare Lal Sharma lived in Chandigarh Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordere ...
, writer *
Jeev Milkha Singh Jeev Milkha Singh (born 15 December 1971) is an Indian professional golfer who became the first player from India to join the European Tour in 1998. He has won four events on the European Tour, becoming the most successful Indian on tour. He ...
, professional golfer *
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Commonwealth gold medalist. *
Yuvraj Singh Yuvraj Singh (born 12 December 1981) is a former Indian international cricketer who played in all formats of the game. He is an all-rounder who batted left-handed in the middle order and bowled slow left-arm orthodox . He has won 7 Player of ...
, Indian international cricketer * Pammi Somal, Bollywood journalist and filmmaker *
Sri Srinivasan Padmanabhan Srikanth "Sri" Srinivasan (; born February 23, 1967) is an Indian-born American lawyer and jurist serving as the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Before he was a circuit judge, Srinivas ...
, United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit * Manan Vohra, cricketer


See also

* Ambala Chandigarh Expressway *
Chandigarh capital region Chandigarh Capital Region (CCR) or Chandigarh Metropolitan Region (CMR) is an area, which includes the union territory city of Chandigarh, and its neighboring cities of Mohali, Kharar, Zirakpur, New Chandigarh (in Punjab) and Panchkula (in Ha ...
*
List of tourist attractions in Chandigarh Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which a ...
* Mohali * New Chandigarh, Punjab *
Panchkula Panchkula (PKL) is a planned city and district headquarter in the Panchkula district, part of the Ambala division in Haryana, India. The origin of the name Panchkula came from the place where five irrigation canals meet. Panchkula establis ...
*
Pinjore Pinjore is a town in Panchkula district in the Indian state of Haryana. This residential 'township', located close to Panchkula, Chandigarh, is set over 1,800 feet above the sea level in a valley, overlooking the Sivalik Hills. Pinjore is kno ...
*
Kaimbwala Kaimbwala is a Non Sectoral Village in Northern Periphery (now under local civic body Municipal Corporation Chandigarh) situated near foothills of the Shivaliks and Punjab & Haryana High Court in Chandigarh district in Chandigarh, India. Hist ...
* Navyug Ramlila and Dussehra Committee *
Emblem of Chandigarh The Emblem of Chandigarh is the official seal of the government of the Indian union territory of Chandigarh. Design The emblem consists of a circular shield depicting a representation of Le Corbusier's Open Hand Monument sculpture which is wide ...


Explanatory notes


References


Further reading

* Fynn, Shaun. ''Chandigarh Revealed: Le Corbusier's City Today''. Princeton Architectural Press, 2017. * Evenson, Norma. ''Chandigarh''. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1966. *
Sarbjit Bahga Sarbjit Singh Bahga is an Indian architect, author and photo-artist. He is known for designing Vidya Sagar Institute of Mental Health, Amritsar, India which was featured in the Guinness World Records for ''Longest covered concrete corridor''. ...
, Surinder Bahga (2014) ''Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret: The Indian Architecture'', CreateSpace, * Joshi, Kiran. ''Documenting Chandigarh: The Indian Architecture of
Pierre Jeanneret Pierre Jeanneret (22 March 1896 – 4 December 1967) was a Swiss architect who collaborated with his cousin, Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (who assumed the pseudonym Le Corbusier), for about twenty years. Early life Arnold-André-Pierre Jea ...
, Edwin Maxwell Fry and
Jane Drew Dame Jane Drew , (24 March 1911 – 27 July 1996) was an English modernist architect and town planner. She qualified at the Architectural Association School in London, and prior to World War II became one of the leading exponents of the Modern ...
''. Ahmedabad: Mapin Publishing in association with Chandigarh College of Architecture, 1999. * Kalia, Ravi. ''Chandigarh: The Making of an Indian City''. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1999. * Maxwell Fry and
Jane Drew Dame Jane Drew , (24 March 1911 – 27 July 1996) was an English modernist architect and town planner. She qualified at the Architectural Association School in London, and prior to World War II became one of the leading exponents of the Modern ...
. ''Chandigarh and Planning Development in India'', London: Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, No.4948, 1 April 1955, Vol. CIII pages 315–333. I. ''The Plan'', by E. Maxwell Fry, II. ''Housing'', by Jane B. Drew. * Nangia, Ashish. ''Re-locating Modernism: Chandigarh, Le Corbusier and the Global Postcolonial''. PhD. Dissertation, University of Washington, 2008. * Perera, Nihal. "Contesting Visions: Hybridity, Liminality, and Authorship of the Chandigarh Plan" ''Planning Perspectives'' 19 (2004): 175–199 * Prakash, Vikramaditya. ''Chandigarh's Le Corbusier: The Struggle for Modernity in Postcolonial India''. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2002. * Sarin, Madhu. ''Urban Planning in the Third World: The Chandigarh Experience''. London: Mansell Publishing, 1982.


External links

; Government
The Official Website of Chandigarh Administration
; General information * * {{Authority control * Planned capitals 1948 establishments in India Districts of Chandigarh Indian union territory capitals Le Corbusier buildings in India Modernist architecture in India Planned cities in India Populated places established in 1948 States and union territories of India Union territories of India T C