Chandigarh

Capital: Chandigarh
Area: 114 square km.
Population:901000 (2004)

STD Code: 0172

HOW TO GET THERE

By air: Indian Airlines and Jet Airways have daily connections from Delhi. Other metros connect through Delhi.

INFORMATION

Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Development Corporation, SCO 121-122, Sector 17-B; tel: 270 4761, 270 4356

WHERE TO STAY

Hotel Mount View; tel: 274 0544
Hotel Piccadilly; tel: 270 7571

WHERE TO EAT

Rustles at Mount View for Indian and Continental
Rasoi, Hotel Parkview, Sector 24 for Chinese is Magic Wok, Mount View for fast food
Confectionary, La Patisserie, Mount View
Le Cafe, Hotel Shivalik View

WHAT TO SEE

Botanical Garden: At the Punjab University, one corner of this garden is devoted to cacti and succulent plants. In another corner of the garden are grown evergreen and exotic plants. There is also a lotus corner in the garden. This is the only place in Chandigarh where one can find beautiful lotus flowers
Rock Garden: This unique world-acclaimed Rock Garden consists of art objects, fashioned from industrial and urban waste
Smriti Upavan: Smriti means 'remembrance' and Upavan means 'forest'. Housed in Sector 1, this is a forest where every tree commemorates someone who is no more. People plant trees in the memory of deceased loved ones.
Topiary Park: In Sector 35. Animal shapes created out of creepers and bushes attract children to this park, built in 1987. A large variety of ornamental plants add to its unique charm.
Terraced Garden: In Sector 33. A small valley running the length of the sector has been developed into a Terraced Flower Garden. Its main attraction is an illuminated musical fountain. The garden, venue for the annual Chrysanthemum Show, is spread over 10 acres.
The Mango Belt: The Mango Belt is located along the city's Purv Marg, separating the industrial areas from the residential ones. It runs northeast to southwest, starting from the Transport Area roundabout to Sector 47, covering about four km. On both sides of the road 12 rows of mango trees of different varieties of dussehri, langra and chausa keep the city green and cool. This belt also acts as a dedicated soldier for the residential areas—keeping them safe from the pollutants emanating from the factories and also from the heavy traffic moving along the Purv Marg. About 5,000 mango trees are planted here.

ART GALLERIES

Pavilion of Temporary Exhibitions, Sector 10
Department of Fine Art Gallery, Punjab University
Punjab Arts Council Gallery, Sector 16
Alliance Francais Gallery, Sector 36
National Gallery Of Portraits, Sector 17

MUSEUMS

Government Museum, Sector 10: Like the City of Chandigarh, the Museum owes its existence to the partition of the country. The collection of art objects, paintings, sculpture and decorative arts was housed in Lahore, then capital of Punjab. The Museum showcases the largest collection of the world famous Gandhara Sculptures after Lahore. There is also a well-appointed library in the Museum and a Child Art Gallery in the Museum block.
City Museum, Sector 10: The City Museum opened in December 1997 and is spread over three floors. Exhibitions in the basement section depict the sad days of Partition and how it necessitated the building of a new capital city of Chandigarh. The story is told through rare documents, maps and drawings. On the ground floor is a display of documents pertaining to Le Corbusier's arrival on the scene and his work subsequent to the tragic death of Mathew Nowicki and withdrawal of the American team from the contract for the project. The second floor's theme is 'Chandigarh today and tomorrow'. This section broadly displays the city's growth after the first phase and departure of Corbusier and his team of international designers. The city's evolution through its second phase and the beginning of the third phase are highlighted. The commercial centres and major public buildings built later are displayed here.
Museum of Evolution of Life: Opened to public on 13th August, 1973, This museum makes for an interesting stop on your itinerary, especially if visiting with children. The evolution of life from the unicellular organism to its present state of biological diversity has been explained here through exquisite paintings. The paintings exhibit the variety and diversity of plants and animals including different extinct races of man, their inter-relationship in nature and the fundamentals of evolutionary process. The other main galleries of this museum includes Astronomy, Archaeology, Pre-historic Era and Geology presented with modern scientific technique. A reference library with an impressive collection of books on evolution, palaeontology, zoology, botany, biology and so on, helps those interested in greater details.
International Dolls Museum, Sector 23: There are about 250 dolls from countries such as The Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Spain, Russia and Korea. A toy train is also on display here. Paintings of important landmarks of different countries have been added to form a background.
City Centre: The City Centre or Sector 17, as it is popularly called, is a juxtaposition of cuboid building blocks and open spaces. The piazzas liven up in the afternoon with the office crowds out to recharge their energy. In the evening shoppers and tourists, enjoying ice cream or popcorn, sit on the steps of the 'dove of peace' spout, where water cascades down from one level to another in geometrically shaped tanks, amidst delightful play of colourful lights. As the rest of the city, all buildings here are symmetrical here, and are all four storied.

SHOPPING

The main shopping centre is the well known Sector 17 area where you will find everything from branded outfits to handicrafts. Some other important shopping areas and stores that you can browse are: Madhya Marg, Sector 22-B, 35-C and D Government Emporia, Chandigarh Emporium, Sukhna Lake Phulkari, Punjab Government Emporium, SCO 27, Sector 17-E.