Chandigarh, the capital city shared between the two north Indian states of Punjab and Haryana is built to the blueprint of a prosperous, modern India and famed for it’s neatly laid out residential blocks, grid-planned roads and numerous gardens. Originally designed for a population of just half a million, the city is located between two seasonal streams, the Patiala ki Rao and the Sukhna Choe. The Shivalik range forms a spectacular backdrop to the city.
Though Haryana was promised a separate capital city, so far both the administrations continue to function from Chandigarh. Over the past 40 years, the city has grown substantially, with land prices shooting up fast. Though frequented mostly by visitors en route to the hill state of Himachal Pradesh or other towns in Punjab, Chandigarh itself has some interesting sites worth visiting. The city also has many critics, who dub it a concrete jungle with huge building blocks unsuited to Indian weather conditions. However, it certainly is a landmark in modern town planning, with sprawling boulevards, neatly planned blocks of houses, green stretches and parklands.

History

Chandigarh gets its name from the early 19th century temple dedicated to Mata Chandi and a fort (garh, as it is called in Hindi) just behind it.
After the Partition of India in 1947, Indian Punjab needed a new capital city to replace Lahore, since that was now with Pakistan. The Indian Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, decided on a spanking new city to be built from scratch, since making additions to existing cities was not practicable. Nehru’s dream was to build a city that would be unfettered by the traditions of the past, a symbol of the nation's faith in the future. The American architect and city planner Albert Mayer drew up the master plan but the French town planner Le Corbusier soon took over, made some changes and executed the project. He also designed several of the city’s prominent buildings.