CHANDIGARH-THE CITY BEAUTIFUL

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.