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Chandigarh Hunks helps you find the latest information about Chandigarh. Chandigarh also known as "The City Beautiful" is the union territory and is the capital of two states Punjab and Haryana. Chandigarh has been designed by Le Corbusier and was built in 1953. The name of the city has been derived from Goddess of power known as Shri Chandika whose temple has also been built on Chandigarh- Kalka Road. The temple is known by the name of Chandi Mandir. Chandigarh is metro cityand has so many exotics places, like, Panjab University Chandigarh, Rock Garden, Rose Garden, Sukhana Lake, Chattbir Zoo, Yellow Pages, Mansa Devi, Rose Festival, Golf Club, and Chandigarh Club and many more. |
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Selection of Site After investigating a lot of sites, the team of engineers & bureaucrats headed by Mr. P.L. Verma, selected the existing site of Chandigarh which met all the requirements for a new city.
The area was a flat, gentle sloping plain of agricultural land dotted with groves of mango trees marking the sites of 24 villages or hamlets -- one of which was named Chandigarh on account of its temple dedicated to the goddess.
The average ground level of the site ranges from 305 to 366 meters with a 1 per cent grade giving adequate drainage. To the northeast are the foothills of the Himalayas -- the Shivalik Range -- rising abruptly to about 1524 meters and a dramatic natural backdrop. One seasonal stream, the Patiali ki Rao, lies on the western side of the city and another, the Sukhna Choe, on the eastern side. A third, smaller seasonal stream flows through the very center of Chandigarh. The area along this stream bed has been turned into a series of public gardens called the Leisure Valley.
And finally in March, 1948, the Government of Punjab in consultation with the Government of India, approved a 114.59 sq. km tract of land at the foot of the Shivalik Hills in Ropar district as the site of the new capital of Punjab. And an existing village gave its name (Chandi - Goddess of Power + garh - fortress) to the new city.
Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, the First prime minister of India was also quite intimately involved with the Chandigarh project.
Pandit Nehru immediately took the final decision and on his visit to the project site on April 2, 1952, said," The site chosen is free from the existing encumbrances of old towns and old traditions. Let it be the first expression of our creative genius flowing on our newly earned freedom.-----Let it be a new town symbolic of the freedom of India unfettered by the traditions of the past and expression of the nation's faith in the future.---The new capital of Punjab will be christened as Chandigarh - a name symbolic of the valiant spirit of the Punjabis. Thus Chandigarh has been rightly associated with the name of Goddess Chandi -- Shakti, or power." |
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History of Chandigarh |
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August 15, 1947, the day of independence of India also the day of division of the nation into India and Pakistan was also the day of division of State of Punjab (Punj+Aab) named so for being the land of five rivers being divided into two states, oone being West Punjab that went in Pakistan with Lahore as its capital and East Punjab remained in India and became a state without a capital. Shimla which used to be the summer capital of India and had the infrastructure was selected as the temporary capital of Punjab.
The Government of Punjab then selected brilliant young engineer Mr. P.L. Verma to undertake the search for a permanent Capital City for the State of Punjab.
At that time the Punjabi people were very nostalgic about Lahore. Till the last moment they wished to see Lahore as a part of India. The loss was felt acutely and people were eager for a city similar to Lahore be built. So Verma and his team of engineers planned and started the concept of a larger independent town, when most of the bureaucrats and politicians favored the concept of a small settlement attached to one of the existing towns. Bureaucrats were known to the acute shortage of funds and the very small financial outlay for Punjab. Each politician was eager to build this capital in the area from where he came. All politicians were trying to pull the capital towards their own constituency.
Under such circumstances Mr. Verma had to lobby intensively with the bureaucrats and the politicians. And it was essentially an account of his dedicated and relentless efforts and lobbying that this idea of a large independent town was finally accepted by Government of Punjab. |