Chandigarh

Chandigarh is a city in India that serves as the capital of two states: Punjab and Haryana. However, the city does not belong to either state. Rather, the city is administered by the federal government and hence classified as a union territory. Chandigarh is also the name of this union territory.

Several buildings in Chandigarh were designed by the Swiss architect Le Corbusier in the 1950s. Le Corbusier was in fact the official architect of the city, which was commissioned by Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of independent India, to reflect the new nation's modern outlook and to look towards the future.

Chandigarh is laid down in a grid pattern. The city is divided into sectors, each sector being roughly 1.5km x 1.5km. The sectors act as mini cities, each has its own markets, places of worship, schools and colleges. Interestingly, while the city has sectors ranging from 1 to 60 (and increasing) Chandigarh has no Sector 13. This is attributable to Le Corbusier's belief that the number 13 is unlucky.

Sector 17 is the city's heart and makes up the shopping centre. It is a favourite haunt for the city inhabitants for an evening out and has many restaurants and hotels in addition to shops carrying virtually every Indian and foreign brand of goods.

Sector 35 is another restaurant and bar sector.

Chandigarh is also known for its high literacy rate of 97%. It has number of popular schools and colleges like Bal Bhavan School , Moti Ram Arya Senior Secondary Model Achool, DAV College, GCG (girls), Shanti Niketan etc..

The Rock Garden of Chandigarh, built over 30 years by Nek Chand from salvaged items, is in Sector 4. The Rose Garden is in Sector 30, and Sukhana Lake in Sector 10.

Chandigarh is 78.6% Hindu, 16.1% Sikh, and about 4% Muslim.

External links

• http://www.pals.org/pec/chandigarh/chandigarh.html
• http://www.chandigarh4u.com/
• http://www.whereincity.com/india/chandigarh/
• Nek Chand Foundation