Chandigarh

A modernist city planned by Le Corbusier, whose Capitol Complex is a World Heritage Site; beyond the Rock Garden and Sukhna Lake, the surroundings offer Pinjore Gardens and the Mansa Devi Temple.

Chandigarh sits at the foot of the Shivalik Hills in the Himalayan foothills of northern India. It is the shared capital of Punjab and Haryana and is itself a union territory, about 250 km from Delhi. Planned in the 1950s under the French master architect Le Corbusier, the city is laid out on a grid of numbered sectors, and its broad tree-lined avenues, extensive green spaces and exposed-concrete buildings make it one of India's cleanest and greenest cities. In 2016, Le Corbusier's Capitol Complex (the Palace of Assembly, High Court, Secretariat and the Open Hand Monument) was inscribed as a World Heritage Site as part of The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier. The main sights are concentrated in the north of the city. The Rock Garden is a fantastical garden secretly built by road inspector Nek Chand from broken ceramics and construction waste; next to it is Sukhna Lake, where you can go boating and watch the sunset. Sector 10 has the Government Museum and the Architecture Museum, Sector 16 has one of Asia's largest rose gardens, the Le Corbusier Centre in Sector 19 tells the story of the city's planning, and Sector 17 is the city's commercial plaza. In the satellite town of Panchkula are the Mansa Devi Temple, Gurdwara Nada Sahib and the Mughal-style Pinjore Gardens; to the east you can head up to the Morni Hills, to the north take the cable car at Parwanoo to Timber Trail, and about 60 km northwest at Anandpur Sahib is the Virasat-e-Khalsa museum. The best season is Oct–Mar, with the Rose Festival in late February the liveliest time; May–Jun is scorching and Jul–Aug is the rainy season. Chandigarh has an international airport and a railway station, and the Shatabdi Express from Delhi takes about 3.5 hours. Sights are spread out, so use ride-hailing apps or hire a car. Allow 2–3 days; the city also makes a good stopover on the way to Himachal Pradesh hill towns such as Shimla and Kasauli.

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