Chandigarh
!!!
What
can I say about The City Beautiful !!
Chandigarh
is my hometown, and I am yet to see a city as beautiful and well planned as my
city.
Chandigarh
is India’s first planned city. Chandigarh was designed and planned by a French
architect Le Corbusier. After the partition of India in 1947, Punjab needed a
new capital to replace Lahore, which became a part of Pakistan during the
partition, hence Chandigarh came into being. Chandigarh gets its name from the
temple of ‘Chandi Mandir’ which is located in the vicinity of the site selected
for the city, the deity ‘Chandi’ symbolizes power and ‘Garh’ means fort.
Chandigarh is a Union Territory and the capital of both Punjab and Haryana.Chandigarh
is a prestigious city and it is the face of Modern India. Chandigarh’s official
logo is the ‘OPEN HAND’, which signifies peace and reconciliation.
Chandigarh
is located in the foothills of the Shivalik Range of the Great Himalayas.
Prominent hill stations of North India are all very close by and are highly
accessible from Chandigarh. Chandigarh is the perfect mix of peace, serenity
and infrastructure. It is here in Chandigarh that trees and plants are as much
a part of the developing infrastructure as are buildings and roads. While you
are driving in Chandigarh, you will see all the roads lined with trees on both
sides. Chandigarh is a green city, its beautiful, rich, spic and span with wide
roads hence it is rightly called The City Beautiful.
Chandigarh
is connected to all the major Indian cities either by rail or by Air.
Chandigarh’s newly built state of the art
international airport guarantees easy access to all the major cities in
India.
Chandigarh
is the home to the beautiful Sukhna Lake, which is a popular tourist
destination. Sukhna Lake also attract locals who like to walk and jog along the
lake. In the evenings, the road in front of Sukhna Lake is thronged by
ice-cream vendors, and other street food. Sukhna Lake gets a high footfall on
Saturdays and Sundays that the Chandigarh Police close the street in front of
the lake for any vehicles. In addition to the Sukhna Lake, Chandigarh is home
to the Rock Garden or Nek Chand’s Rock Garden. It is named after its founder
Nek Chand. Nek Chand secretly started the garden in 1957 by using industrial
and home based waste material to make sculptures. He used waste materials like
bangles, glasses, tiles, ceramic pots, sinks and electrical waste. Rock Garden
appeared on an Indian stamp in 1983.
In
addition to the Sukhna Lake and the Rock Garden, there are many other places
that draw the attention of the locals as well as the locals. Some of the
attractions in Chandigarh are Zakir Hussain Rose garden, National Gallery of
Portraits, Garden of Fragrance, Le Corbusier Centre, Topiary Park, Hibiscus
Garden, Bougainvillea Garden, terraced Garden and many more.
In
today’s day Chandigarh is more than the above mentioned gardens. Chandigarh now
boasts of having many malls which house major International brands, Restaurants
that make your mouth water, Entertainment in terms of multiplexes have replaced
the single screen theaters, Night life comparable to that of any metropolitan
city and yet it has its old world charm. There are no high rise buildings in
Chandigarh and Le Corbusier design is still preserved.
Chandigarh
is divided into sectors, each sector is self-sufficient in terms of markets and
daily need goods. These sectors are connected by a network of roads known as
the 7V’s, roads running from northeast to southeast are called Paths and roads
running from northwest to southeast are called Margs. There is no Sector 13 in
Chandigarh as it is considered an unlucky number and that it is inauspicious.
Enough
with the history and geography of Chandigarh, Let me give you the firsthand
account of what Chandigarh is like for someone who lives here. Chandigarh has
straight parallel roads, it is impossible for someone to get lost in
Chandigarh. Inspite of me myself being slightly challenged when it comes to
directions I can find my way around the city with ease. If you are visiting
Chandigarh for the first time, stop and ask anybody walking on the road for
directions and you will get help, people here are very friendly and helpful.
Chandigarh
is known as the Pensioner’s Paradise, retired army officials have huge houses
here. But this does not mean that there are no young people in Chandigarh. The
young crowd in Chandigarh is really “hep” and knows how to party. Saturday
night parties are always a hit and late night you can see the police barricades
on all the major roads to check road rage and drinking under influence. If you
want to party while in Chandigarh you must check out Peddler’s, Underdoggs and
Satva. If you are a laid back person like me, go out bowling with your friends,
Yes, Chandigarh has its very own Blu-O. Yayyy !!!! Bowling, pizza, fried
mozzarella sticks, beer, good music and great company make for an amazing
weekend or a weeknight too for that matter. An article of Chandigarh is
incomplete witjout the mention of the Geri route (Punjabi slang for the street
connecting sector 8-9-10 and 11. It is “the” place to be in the evenings),
Music blaring luxury cars driving through the Geri route. You will also see
lots of guys flaunting their Harley’s and other high end luxury bikes,
Honestly, it’s so pointless yet the youth of Chandigarh love it. And yeah, many
songs are written and sung about the geri route too.
Looking
for the best Punjabi food, I mean for Butter Chicken, Dal Makahni, Shahi
Paneer, Lemon Chicken, Chicken Tikka, stop looking, Let me introduce you to Pal
Dhaba, Deluxe Dhaba and Tehal Singh. Choose any one of these and you are in for
a treat ( The Lemon Chicken is the best at Deluxe Dhaba). If Butter chicken and
chicken tikka don’t interest you, eat at Bar-B-Que nation, Chili’s (the best
steaks, burgers and salads) , Kylin ( amazing dimsums). My mouth is watering
only thinking about these places.
Visit
Chandigarh, you will love it and not want to leave EVER !!!
Travelling
to Chandigarh and want to explore the hill stations ?
Fret
not!!
Chandigarh
is very well connected to hill stations like Morni, Nahan, Kasauli, Shimal, Chail, Dharamshala, Kullu,
Mussoorie, Manikaran, Lansdowne, Manali, Dalhousie, Palampur, Sarahan to name a
few. There is a wide network of roads that connect Chandigarh to all these
places. If you don’t want to drive down, Sleeper buses, Volvos and normal buses
ply from Chandigarh to the above mentioned hill stations.
Want
to discover and explore the beauty of the Shivalik Ranges in style, hire a
helicopter or an aircraft and fly from the new Chandigarh International Airport
to your destination in style. Get treated like a VIP and enjoy full privacy.
Contact FareHawker.com for all your charter needs.
