Chandigarh

	A planned city in the post war  modernist style, acting  as  the dual capital of 
	Punjab and the Haryana states. Some  critics  describe  Chandigarh  as soulless; 
	anyone familar with England may find themselves reminded of  Milton  Keynes. Not
	quite the garden city it was dreamt to be, it is  neverthless a  convenient stop
	en route to Himachal Predesh, or before flying to Leh.

	The inial plans for the creation of the city were drawn in New York by Mayer and 
	Novicki,  When  the  latter died  in  1950  the  work  was   entrusted  to   the 
	internationally renowned architect Le  Corbusier who  supervised  the layout and 
	was responsible for the grand buildings. Fry and Drew  designed  the residential
	and commercial areas.

	Jawaharlal Nehru said of  Chandigarh "Let this  be  a  new  town symbolic of the 
	freedom of India, ufettered by the traditions of the past, an  expression of the
	nation's faith in the future". Its detractors describe it as a concrete Prairie,
	the product of 'the ivory tower school of architecture' and despite its planning
	many regard Chandigarh as Characterless failure.

	Some of the tourist places around

	1.  Capital  complex
	2.  Cultural zone in sector 14
	3.  Shopping mall in sector 35
	4.  Multipillar High Court
	5.  Legislative Assembly
	6.  Open Hand Movement
	7.  The Geometrical hill (tower of shadows)
	8.  Government Museum and Art Gallery
	9.  Museum of Evolution of life in sector 10
	10. Fine Arts Museum in Punjab University, Sector 14
	11. Rose Gardens in sector 16
	12. The rock garden or Garden of Nek Chand
	13. Sukhna Lake just below the Rock Garden
	14. Zoological Park in chaat Bir (few km  out of  the  city centre) has Lion and 
	    Deer safari park


	Getting around

	Buses serve the different sectors but if you  are  only  few hours, it is best to
	hire transport as there are long distances  to cover in  this  widely  spread out 
	city and it is not always easy to find a taxi; or auto-rickshaws for single 
	Journeys.


	How to reach here

	By Air

	Chandigarh Airport is 11 km from the  City Centre. Indian Airlines, Jet  Airways,
	Air Deccan Fly Daily for Mumbai, Delhi and Jammu.

	By Rail

	Railway station is 8 km from the City centre and has clean waiting  room but poor
	bus service. Pre-Paid auto-rickshaws are available. For New  Delhi  one  can take  
	Shatabdi  Express  (3 1/4 hrs),  Himalayan  Queen (4 1/2 hrs), Kalka-Howrah  mail 
	(5 1/2 hrs). For shimla: Himalayan Queen takes 1 hr to Kalka then 40 minutes wait
	for Express train to Shimla in 6 hrs (booking should be done in advance).
 
	By Road

	Local CTU run reasonably good City  Service. Long  distance  buses run  from  ISBT 
	station  to  Shimla (5 hrs),  Jammu (10 hrs),  Srinagar (22 hr),  Amritsar (6hrs), 
	Pathankot (7hrs), Kalka (1 hrs), Kullu (12 hrs), Manali (10 hrs) and Delhi (5 hrs).