Chandigarh

• Capital: chandigarh
• Population: 960,787
• Religions: Hindu
• Area: 114 Sq. km
• Altitude: 350 m
• Language: Hindi, Punjabi, English
• Best Season: Summer,Winter
• Weather:

Places to See Around

 Chandigarh is the best-planned city in India, with architecture which is world-renowned, and a quality of life, which is unparalleled. As the capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana, and the Union Territory of Chandigarh it is a prestigious city. The face of modern India, Chandigarh, is the manifestation of a dream that Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru envisaged and Le Corbusier executed.

 

Serenity and a city are two diametrically opposite concepts, which however, get belied in the 'City Beautiful'. Chandigarh is a rare epitome of modernization co-existing with nature's preservation. It is here that the trees and plants are as much a part of the construction plans as the buildings and the roads. India’s first planned city, is a rich, prosperous, spic and span, green city rightly called “ The City Beautiful ”.

 

The city of Chandigarh was the first planned city in India post independence in 1947 (pre-independence planned cities include Dispur in Assam, New Delhi in Delhi, Jaipur in Rajasthan, etc.) and is known internationally for its architecture and urban design. The city has projects designed by architects such as Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret, Jane Drew, and Maxwell Fry. The city tops the list of Indian States and Union Territories with the highest per capita income in the country at Rs.99,262 at current prices and Rs.70,361 at constant prices (2006–2007). The city was reported in 2010 to be the "cleanest" in India, based on a national government study, and the territory also headed the list of Indian states and territories according to research conducted using 2005 data by Human Development Index.

 

A committee was set up to choose a suitable site, keeping in mind various factors like military vulnerability, drinking water, climatic conditions etc. Finally, a site was selected, but that was in the shape of farms. The city got its name from Chandi, the Goddess of power and Garh meaning fortress. After the site was finalized, a master plan for the city was prepared by an American team (Mayor, Whittleslay, Glass & Nowicki). The project faced a setback with the sudden demise of Nowicki. It was then that the other teammates refused to work on the project.