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Chandigarh
 Chandigarh, the beautiful capital of Punjab and Haryana is on the edge of the Siwalik Hills, the outermost edge of the Himalaya. It is a modern city built in 1950. It is divided into 47 numbered sectors, separated by broad avenues. It is also a union territory.
The railway station is 8 km out of town. The Secretariat and other important buildings are in Sector 1. The Museum is in Sector 10 and Rose Garden in Sector 16, next to the bus station. Air Indian Airlines in the sector 17, shopping complex is open from 9.30 am to 7pm. Chandigarh was a child of India's independence. After the partition of India in 1947, the state of Punjab had been split and its capital, Lahore is now in Pakistan.
We present you Chandigarh travel guide that
will brief you on the tourism in Chandigarh. If you are preparation to
travel to Chandigarh, then this Chandigarh city guide will help you a
great deal in exploring Chandigarh beautiful city. Having a
world-class structural design, the city is measured to be the best
planned city of our country.
The quality of life in Chandigarh has extremely no match. The union
region of Chandigarh, India serves as the capital city of the twin
states of Punjab and Haryana. The credit for the grand designing of the
city goes to a French architect named Le Corbusier. The Chandigarh city
has been named after mother Chandi, the goddess of power. It is in the
enthusiasm of the Goddess Chandi that Chandi Mandir was
set up.
The Chandigarh city is known for its beautiful gardens, mainly the rose
garden. There is an exclusive garden in Chandigarh named rock garden,
which showcases beautiful artwork made by using industrial and urban
wastes like ceramic, forks, metal wires, play marbles, auto parts &
broken bangles etc. There are lot of places to travel around in and
around Chandigarh like Sukhna Lake, Leisure Valley,
City Center, Museum of evolution of life, city museum,
Bougainvillea Park, Gurdwara Nada Sahib, Mansa Devi
Shrine and many more. Chandigarh is attractively situated near the
foothills of the Shivalik range of the Himalayas in Northwest
India and is India's first planned and green city which is rightly
nicknamed as "The City Beautiful". Chandigarh city derived its
name from Chandi Mandir, a Mandir of goddess Chandi, which is
situated in Haryana.
A new center of governance was needed for the state of Punjab. The present site of Chandigarh was chosen for its scenic location at the base of the
Shivalik Hills, its fertile soil and its prodigious water supply. A planned city, Chandigarh emerged in
1952 from the modernist craze of creating huge, geometrically quirky human environments considered symbolic of the future "order" of humanity. The construction of Chandigarh began in 1950, according to the plan by the French architect,
LeCorbusier.
Chandigarh is a well planned modern city. Although the city's population is growing, it is far from chaos and troubles of the big city. The people are nice and well behaved.
Actually, every sector is self-sufficient in itself. The city transport system is also well maintained. This is one of the reasons that Chandigarh has become an ideal city of India
In the heart of the city, is located Sector 17. This is the main shopping center of the city
 This commercial centre is fully pedestrianised. Here, the residents shop, lounge around or simply relax in the beautiful surroundings to enjoy the various fashion houses located here. Big showrooms and excellent departmental stores cater to the needs of shoppers. In evenings, one can see the crowd walking around here and there. The ultimate lightning effects are visible during the evenings.
Major Tourist Attractions in Chandigarh
:
Rock Garden
Established by Nek Chand, this beautiful rock garden has thousands of sculptures set in large mosaic courtyards linked by walled paths and deep gorges and a combination of huge buildings with a series of interlinking waterfalls. The Rock Garden is now acknowledged as one of the modern wonders of the world.
Sukhna Lake
Occupying an area of 3 km, this is a favourite tourist spot in Chandigarh. The lake is thronged with the locals taking breezy walks along its banks which has provisions for boating and yachting on all days.
Bougainvillea Park
The garden, laid out in 1976, is dedicated to hundreds of bougainvillea varieties. The creepers cover a wide assortment of arches, bowers, pavilions and arcades. About 65 different varieties of bougainvillea shrubs are planted in this garden.
 Rose Garden
The Zakir Hussain Rose Garden is Asia's largest Rose Garden and is spread over 30 acres of land having over 1600 different species of roses. The garden was planned by Dr. M.S. Randhawa as his interest in horticulture and fondness for flowers was immense. Every year, either at the end of February or beginning of March, a big festival known as Rose Festival, is celebrated at this garden. Over 20,000 people visit this festival. It's one of the greatest and must see event in the city.
Shanti Kunj
The name means “Abode of Peace”. Trees, pools and streams crossed by curved bridges and a large number of meditation nooks define this garden.
Government Museum and Art Gallery
 This museum has an enormous collection of miniature paintings of the Gandhara and Pahari schools of art. Erected on columns, the building is a work of art providing a natural canopy roof for the ground space. This is in fact the display area for large antique sculptures.
Mansa Devi and Chandi Mandir
Situated at a distance of about 15 kms from Chandigarh, this is the temple from where the city of Chandigarh derives its name. The temple is situated in the state of Haryana. Devotees from all over the country visit this temple for blessings of the goddess Mansa Devi / Chandi Devi.
How to Reach
Air :
The Chandigarh Airport is 11km out of town. From Chandigarh, there are flights to: Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bombay, Delhi, Kullu, Leh. The Indian Airlines office is in the sector 17 shopping centre. Vayudoot airlines and Archana airways also operate their flights from Chandigarh .
Rail : Chandigarh's railway station is 8km to the south- east of the town. To Shimla and Jammu, Amritsar and Rishikesh can be reached by catching train from Chandigarh to Ambala and getting a connection from here. Delhi to Chandigarh Shatabdi Express journeys in just three hours. Railway booking agency is in Sector 22
Road Transport
: Chandigarh has a huge Inter state bus terminal and it is central to the city on the south side of sector 17 across from the hotels in sector 22 Buses depart for Amritsar, Dehra Dun, Delhi, Dharamshala. There are regular buses, deluxe video buses and air-con deluxe video buses, departing to Delhi, Shimla, Manali, Jaipur, Rishikesh regularly, at all hours of the day and night.
Bus network is good and cheap. Cycle-rickshaws and auto-rickshaws are available. Also you can hire the bicycle
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