Places to visit in Chandigarh

1.Rock Garden

The Rock Garden has become almost a heritage site. Artists and connoisseurs from all over the world flock to see this unique and amazing creation. The concept is daring, the appeal perennial. Visitors leave in admiration, only to return again. The creator of the Rock Garden, Nek Chand, was a Road Inspector in the Engineering Department of Chandigarh Capital Project. He roamed the Shivalik Foothills and picked up stones resembling bird, animal, human and abstract forms. He brought them on his bicycle. The first seven years (1958-65) were spent collecting natural material, urban and industrial waste. Gradually his collection mounted to a staggering twenty thousand rock forms of amazing beauty. These were deposited around a hut which he had built for his work and contemplation. He built the Rock Garden from this improvised hut which was located by the side of a stream.

2.Sukhna Lake

The manmade picturesque Sukhna lake in the foothills of Shivalik range is an idyllic place for quiet communion with nature and for offering water sports activities such as boating, yachting, water skiing, etc. The creation of Lake was one of the greatest gift from Le Corbusier and P L Varma Chief Engineer. To preserve its tranquility Corbusier insisted that it be forbidden to motor boats and the top of the dam (promenade) prohibited to vehicular traffic.Sukhna is an inseparable part of the city. Le Corbusier had foreseen that the residents of the city would be drawn it for the ‘care of the body and spirit’. The planners of the city will be thrilled to find that this beautiful gift to the city has extended its attraction beyond its boundaries. The city planners were deeply attached to the lake. So much so that Pierre Jeanneret’s ashes were immersed in the lake in 1970 as per his wishes by his niece.

3.Rose Garden

Zakir Hussain Rose Garden, is a botanical garden in Chandigarh, India and spread over 30 acres (120,000 m2) of land, with 50,000 rose-bushes of 1600 different species. Named after India’s former president, Zakir Hussain and created in 1967 under the guidance of Dr Dr M.S.Randhawa, Chandigarh’s first chief commissioner, the garden has the distinction of being Asia’s largest. The garden has not only roses, but also trees of medicinal value. Some of the medicinal plants that can be spotted here are bel, bahera, harar, camphor and yellow gulmohar. The rose plants have been planted in carved-out lawns and flower beds.Apart from serving as a host of other events, the Zakir Rose Garden serves as the venue for hosting an annual rose festival called Rose Festival, a major cultural event in Chandigarh during February or March. Celebrated mainly as a tribute to the magnificence of the rose itself, the attractions include food, drinks, joyrides, and contests of varying nature, such as photography, gardening, landscaping, bonsai, and Rose Prince and Princess. The contests are open to the residents or institutions from nearby places

4.Government Museum and Art Gallery

Government Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh, is a premier museum of North India having collections of Gandharan sculptures, Pahari and Rajasthani miniature paintings. It owes its existence to the partition of India in August, 1947. Prior to the partition, the collections of art objects, paintings and sculptures were housed in the Central Museum, Lahore, the then capital of Punjab.After partition, the division of collections took place on April 10, 1948. Sixty percent of objects were retained by Pakistan and forty percent collection fell in the share of India.The museum was inaugurated on 6 May 1968 by Dr. M. S. Randhawa, the then Chief Commissioner of Chandigarh.The Government Museum and Art Gallery was designed by the Swiss born French architect, Le Corbusier along with his associate architects namely Manmohan Nath Sharma, Pierre Jeanneret and Shiv Dutt Sharma.The design was completed during the period of 1960-62 and construction took place between 1962 and 1967. It is part of the three museums designed by Le Corbusier, the other two being Sanskar Kendra, Ahmedabad and National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo.