Chandigarh & Shimla

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Chandigarh & Shimla


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Chandigarh


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Chandigarh (Hindi: ) is a unionterritory of India that serves as the capital of twostates, Haryana and Punjab. The nameChandigarh translates as "The Fort of Chandi".The name is from an ancient temple calledChandi Mandir, devoted to the Hindu goddessChandi, in the city.It is occasionally referred toas The City Beautiful.

As the first planned city of India, Chandigarh isknown internationally for its architecture andurban planning. Chandigarh is home to

numerous architectural projects of Le Corbusier,Pierre Jeanneret, Matthew Nowicki, and AlbertMayer.


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History After the partition of British India into India and Pakistan in 1947, the former British

province of Punjab was also split between India and Pakistan. The Indian state ofPunjab required a new capital city to replace Lahore, which became part of Pakistanduring the partition. After several plans to make additions to existing cities were foundto be unfeasible for various reasons, the decision to construct a new and planned citywas undertaken. Of all the new town schemes in independent India, the Chandigarhproject quickly assumed prime significance, because of the city's strategic location aswell as the personal interest of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister ofindependent India. Commissioned by Nehru to reflect the new nation's modern,progressive outlook, Chandigarh was designed by the French (born Swiss) architectand urban planner, Le Corbusier, in the 1950s. Le Corbusier was in fact the secondarchitect of the city, after the initial master plan was prepared by the Americanarchitect-planner Albert Mayer who was working with the Polish-born architectMatthew Nowicki

On 1 November 1966, the newly-formed Indian state of Haryana was carved out ofthe eastern portion of the Punjab, in order to create Haryana as a majority Hindi-

speaking state (with a Hindu majority), while the western portion of Punjab retained amostly Punjabi language-speaking majority (with a Sikh majority) and remained asthe current day federated state of Punjab. However, the city of Chandigarh was onthe border, and was thus created into a union territory to serve as capital of boththese states.


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Geography and climate

Chandigarh is located near the foothills of the Shivalik range of theHimalayas in northwest India. It covers an area of approximately 44.5 sq mior 114 km. and shares its borders with the states of Haryana in the eastand Punjab in the north, west and south. The exact cartographic co-ordinates of Chandigarh are 30.74N 76.79E It has an average elevationof 321 metres (1053 ft).

ChandigarhClimate chart 7Average max. and min. temperatures in CPrecipitation totals in

mmSource: World Weather Information ServiceImperial conversion

The surrounding districts are of Mohali, Patiala and Roopnagar in Punjaband Panchkula and Ambala in Haryana. The boundary of the state ofHimachal Pradesh is also minutes away from its north border.

Chandigarh has a humid subtropical climate characterized by a seasonal

rhythm: very hot summers, mild winters, unreliable rainfall and greatvariation in temperature (-1 C to 41.2 C). In winter, pieces of snowsometimes occurs during December and January. The average annualrainfall is 1110.7 mm. The city also receives occasional winter rains fromthe west.


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Architecture and urban planning

Taking over from Albert Mayer, Le Corbusier produced a plan forChandigarh that conformed to the modern city planning principles ofCongrs International d'Architecture Moderne CIAM, in terms ofdivision of urban functions, an anthropomorphic plan form, and ahierarchy of road and pedestrian networks. This vision of Chandigarh,contained in the innumerable conceptual maps on the drawing boardtogether with notes and sketches had to be translated into brick andmortar. Le Corbusier retained many of the seminal ideas of Mayer and

Nowicki, like the basic framework of the master plan and itscomponents: The Capitol, City Center, besides the University,Industrial area, and linear parkland. Even the neighborhood unit wasretained as the basic moduleof planning. However, the curving outlineof Mayer and Nowicki was reorganized into a mesh of rectangles, andthe buildings were characterized by an "honesty of materials".Exposed brick and boulder stone masonry in its rough form producedunfinished concrete surfaces, in geometrical structures. This becamethe architectural form characteristic of Chandigarh, set amidstlandscaped gardens and parks.

The Open Hand Monument

Chandigarh Museum and Art gallery have a separate section dedicatedto the architectureof Chandigarh


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The Open Hand Monument


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Chandigarh Secretariat Building


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Punjab and Haryana High Court at

Chandigarh


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Gandhi Bhavan built byPierre Jeanneret forPunjab University


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Rock Garden


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Shimla (Hindi: ), formerly known as Simla, isthe capital city of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla

was declared the summer capital of the British Raj inIndia. A popular tourist destination, Shimla is oftenreferred to as the "Queen of Hills," a term coined by theBritish. Located in the north-west Himalayas at anaverage altitude of 2,205 metres (7,234 ft), the city ofShimla, draped in forests of pine, rhododendron, and

oak, experiences pleasant summers and cold, snowywinters. The city is famous for its buildings styled intudorbethan and neo-gothic architecture dating from thecolonial era. Shimla is connected to the city of Kalka byone of the longest narrow gauge railway routes stilloperating in India, the Kalka-Shimla Railway. Shimla isapproximately 100 km (68 miles) from Chandigarh, thenearest major city, and 365 km (226.8 miles) from NewDelhi, the national capital. The city is named after thegoddess Shyamala Devi, an incarnation of the HinduGoddess Kali


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Places of interest The Mail: The Mall is the main shopping street of Shimla. It also has many restaurants, clubs,

banks, bars, Post Offices and tourist offices. The Gaiety Theatre is also situated there. Peoplewalk up and down the Mall slowly, stopping to gossip, as it is the main meeting place foreveryone. The Ridge and Scandal point are the two main meeting points at the Mall. The mall isdotted with many eating places .The most famous among them is Trishul bakery which is knownfor its pastries.

Christ Church: Situated on the Ridge, Christ Church is the second oldest church in Northern India.It has a very majestic appearance and inside there are stained glass windows which representfaith, hope, charity, fortitude, patience and humility.

Jakhu Hill: 2 km from Shimla, at a height of 8000 ft, Jakhu Hill is the highest peak and offers abeautiful view of the town and of the snow-covered Himalayas. At the top of the Hill, is an oldtemple of Lord Hanuman, which is also the home of countless playful monkeys waiting to be fedby all visitors.

Shimla State Museum: The Museum, which was opened in 1974, has tried to protect hill-out andthe cultural wealth of the state. There is a collection of miniature Pahari paintings, sculptures,bronzes wood-carvings and also costumes, textiles and jewellery of the region.

Indian Institute of Advanced Study: This institute is housed in the Viceregal Lodge, built in 1884-88.

Annandale: Developed as the playground of Shimla, Annandale is 24 km from the Ridge at aheight of 6,117 ft. It is a favourite spot for cricket, picnics and polo.

Tara Devi: 11 km from the Shimla bus-stand. Tara Devi hill has a temple dedicated to the goddessof stars on top of the hill. There is a military Dairy Town here as well as the headquarters ofBharat Scouts and Guides.

Sankat Mochan: A Lord Hanuman temple is located here..

Anand Vilas Midway between Shimla and Junga. "Sarva Dharma Mandir", Temple of all Faiths, isa spiritual group dedicated to Mother Nature. Thousands of visitors and devotees come hereevery year. There is an "Art is Values" school with students from all over India. Classes areprovided free of cost.

Mashobra: 13 km from Shimla, site of the annual Sipi fair in June.

Chharabra: 13 km from Shimla on route to Kufri.

Naldehra: 22 km from Shimla, with a nine-hole Naldehra Golf Club. The annual Sipi fair in June is

held in Naldehra Tatapani: Location of sulphur springs which are found near the Tatapani mandir(holy temple)


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Temple Near Rohru, Shimla


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Wooden Work AtThe Outer side

of AT

emple


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Gorton Castle At Shimla


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Indian Institute of Advance

Studies Shimla


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JakhuTemple Shimla


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Tara DeviTemple Shimla


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Petter Hoff Shimla


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Wood Villa Palace Shimla


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Wooden Work AtThe Outer side

of A Temple


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GeneralPost Office Shimla


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Shimla Railway Station


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Sankat Mochan Temple


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Tara DeviTemple


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Railway Board Building Shimla


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View from Wild Flower Hall

Shimla


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Sankat Mochan Mandir


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Wooden WorkIn An Old Building


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Temple Near Rohru Shimla

Documents

Chandigarh & Shimla