Chandigarh Things to Do

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One of the most significant monuments planned by Le Corbusier in Chandigarh is the Open Hand which is located near the High Court in sector 1. Rising 85 feet high from a sunken trench, a giant hand in metal sheets is designed to rotate "like a weather cock, not to show the incertitude of ideas, but to indicate symbolically the direction of wind (that is the state of affairs)." It is also meant to convey a message of peace "open to receive."

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Otherwise known as the Legislative Assembly, this building stands next to the Secretariat and is where the ministers assemble for political meeting of government. The shape of the cupola is an "obliquely truncated hyperbolic parabolic", according to one website. Its different, that's all I can say!

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The law-executing monument is the largest and tallest of the three edifices in the Capitol Complex which is located in sector 1. Built during 1953-59, it is shaped like an eight-storeyed concrete slab, with its distinctive brise-soleil-louvered screen of deeply sculptured two-storey porticos in the centre, housing the offices of ministers.

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Located with the other museums and art galleries, the Natural History Museum, opened in 1973, charts the evolution of man, stone tools and has models of dinosaurs. The museum has different art galleries in the fields of astronomy, archaeology, botany, biology, history and geology.

Open: 10am-4.45pm. Admission: Rs2 for all visitors, Rs5 for still camera.

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Opened in 1968, this museum and art gallery is located next door to the City Museum in sector 10. It houses magnificent Gandhara period stone sculptures, prehistoric fossils and artifacts, Hindu statues, cloth and miniature paintings, decorative arts, coins and modern art. More pictures can be found in one of my travelogues.

Open: Tues-Sun 10am-4.30pm. Closed Mondays. Admission: Rs2 for all visitors, Rs5 for still camera.

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The City Museum was established by the Chandigarh administration at the time of the 50th Anniversary of India's independence in December 1997. The purpose of setting up the museum was to collect, preserve and display the planning and architectural development that went into the unique urban designing of the city. The story is told through rare documents such as original sketches, maps, models, plans, photographs and letters. I found it particularly interesting as it mentioned about Ebenezer Howard who planned my home town, Welwyn Garden City in England.

Open: Tues-Sun 9am-5pm. Closed Mondays. Admission: Rs5 for all visitors.

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The last place I expected to see the Eiffel Tower would be here in India but I suppose they built it in honour of Frenchmen Le Corbusier who planned the city. You'll notice, beside the tree on the left, 3 pieces of stone perched on top of each other on the path. After visiting the nearby City Museum and Art Gallery, a cricket match was in full swing and these pieces of rock acted as stumps. A typical case of ingenuity over availability that you'll find all over India. I watched the game for quite some time and the Eiffel Tower was used as a grandstand with people sitting on it.

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Named after India's former president Dr. Zakir Hussain, the Rose Garden was established in 1967 under the guidance of Chandigarh's first chief commissioner, Dr. M.S. Randhawa. This is the largest rose garden in Asia and is spread over an area of 27 acres in sector 16 and has more than 17,000 plants representing some 1,600 varieties of roses. Every year, either at the end of February or beginning of March, a big festival known as Rose Festival, is celebrated at this garden.