The sun crept out after weeks of heavy rain. So I quickly packed a few things into my backpack, to step out into a city that I had read so much about. Hansika, an ex-hostel mate had dropped by yesterday to collect some of her belongings, "Chandigarh me toh bahut badhiya badhiya foreign liq**r stores hai," (Chandigarh has many foreign liq**r stores) she said, immediately sending signals to my indulgent mind to hasten up for the day.
The spirit of Chandigarh
Post-independence (1947), the states of Punjab and Bengal suffered the most in the wake of the trauma of Partition. People lost their loved ones, homes and belongings, and Punjab lost its treasured capital city LAHORE. Chandigarh was thus created to fill the gap of Lahore. It now serves as the dual-capital of Punjab and Haryana.
A 2/ 3 days tour of Chandigarh is enough to prove how Indian Punjab rose like a Phoenix from the ashes of Partition.
Architecture and planning of a new city
Although Le Corbusier, the famous Swiss-French architect is credited for the design and layout of the city of Chandigarh, much of the spade work had in fact been done by a team of 2 American architects; Albert Mayer and Mathew Nowicki even before he arrived here. It was Jawaharlal Nehru's idea to employ foreign architects as Indian planners and architects he believed were absent then.
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| Top- Le Corbusier. Bottom- Matthew Nowicki, he died Aug 31, 1950 in a tragic plane crash thereby ending his association with the Chandigarh project |
The Sectors of Chandigarh
Le Corbusier's masterplan is a chequerboard of rectangles called Sectors, each measuring 800 x 1200 meters, enclosed by roads for fast-moving traffic.
The essence of his concept for a city is that it ought to fulfill 4 basic functions~ Living, Working, Circulation and Care of the Body & Spirit.
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| Chandigarh city masterplan |
The typical Sector is a self-sufficient neighborhood with its own school, shopping centres and community facilities. When in Chandigarh, look out for~ Sector 17 market which is at the city centre. It seems like a dedicated mobile market plus some other big brand stores. Sector 7 & 8 has some classy restaurants, pubs and bakeries. As Hansika mentioned, the city is dotted with excellent foreign liq**r stores. Sector 22 is a dedicated residential area with Shastri market in its vicinity. Sector 19 & 22 for garments shopping.
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| Spaces within the Sectors |
A novel feature of Chandigarh's masterplan is the scheme of traffic segregation~
🛣️ A Sector can be traversed only by slow-traffic roads, while the fast-moving traffic roads are restricted to its own periphery. This ensures tranquillity and safety within the living spaces.
At the heart of the city
2 prime areas; namely~ The Capitol and The City Center lie at the heart of the city.
The Capitol area was meant to denote power as we can see by the buildings it represents; namely~ the Secretariat, the Assembly, the High Court and the Governor's Palace. The layout has a subtle sense of cohesion between the building blocks.
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| Tapestry design by Le Corbusier for the High Court |
The various monuments along the main piazza serve to activate and adorn the area's linear perspective. These are~ The Open Hand, the Tower of Shadows, the Geometric hill and the Martyr's Memorial with water bodies and landscape features that tie together the wide open spaces of the Capitol area. If you are around the Capitol, walk slightly further down for Nek Chand's Rock garden (Timings 9am to 7pm/ 6pm, Entry ₹30/).
Nek Chand Saini was a self-taught artist who took refuge in India during the 1947 Partition. At the time that Chandigarh was being designed in 1955, Nek Chand worked as a roads inspector for the PWD (Public Works dept). During his spare time he began collecting raw material from the demolition sites around, recycled them and thus created The Rock garden of Chandigarh.
From The Rock garden, continue another 1 km or so towards SUKNA LAKE, a place for leisure activities. The lake was constructed out of a seasonal stream that flows down from the Shivalik hills.
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| Boating activities at SUKNA LAKE |
Evenings, mornings and weekends are particularly filled with families and kids having a good time. There is a long causeway around the lake for walks. To the other end is a wildlife sanctuary. The bird sanctuary attracts winged visitors from mid-Oct till mid-April.
The City Centre
Next in importance to The Capitol is the City Centre around Sector 17. This being the main 'Work area', it is planned around 4 pedestrian concourses that meet at a central point. The groves of trees forming the Boulevards make the place endearing for pedestrians.
Closer to Sector 17, are the museums and art gallery which are a treasure trove of knowledge. These are~ Le Corbusier centre, Art gallery and one Museum completely dedicated to Evolutionary Biology. (Natural history)All 3 places are in the same campus, but will still need a separate day.
After the day is done, don't forget to step into the glitzy ELante Luxury mall. They have an extensive food court with a wide variety of food brands, and fine dining restaurants. A Cineplex 🍿 and is a shoppers galore 🛍️ with all luxury brands here.
Hope you enjoyed reading this blogpost. Your comments are truly appreciated. Don't forget to share 🙏
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