Chandigarh Travels And Tourist Guide

Rock Garden is an epitome of creativity and innovation. It is a unique garden that consists of various art objects. But the best part about the rock garden is that each of its artwork has been made by using industrial & urban waste. The urban waste material turned into creative patterns and textures, mute rocks turned into art objects attract tourists to Chandigarh. It is located in Sector 1 between the Capitol Complex and Sukhna Lake. The credit for laying its foundation goes to Nek Chand, who was the then Road Inspector in the Engineering Department of Chandigarh Capital Project. This magic garden is built by Nekchand who began the project in the year 1958, with multicoloured pieces of useless stones and other throwaway. In summer it is open from 9-13.00 hrs. and 15-19.00 hrs. From October to March, they are open from 9-13.00 hrs. and 14-18.00 hrs. The most powerful aspect of the gardens is that - thousands of animal or humanoid figures made out of discarded materials, which stand in rigid rows like silent static armies. It’s a series of interconnected rocky grottoes, walkways and landscaped waterfalls. All this demonstrates how urban and industrial waste can be fruitfully recycled and used in creative pursuit.

Zakir Hussain Rose Garden Asias largest Rose Garden and is spreaded over 30 acres of land. Here bloom 50,000 rose-trees of 1600 species. One can only see the flowers and cannot pluck them. Named after Indias former President, Zakir Hussain, the garden was established in 1967 under the guidance of Chandigarhs first Chief Commissioner late Dr. M. S. Randhawa. Apart from roses emphasis was given on trees of medicinal value and some unique specimen trees to enhance the beauty of the garden. Some of the medicinal trees planted here are bel, bahera, harar, camphor and yellow gulmohar. It is located next to the city centre. Affording a sight to behold during spring, the rose plants have been planted beautifully in carved-out lawns and flowers beds. The Rose Garden is a place worth visiting in Chandigarh for being home to thousand varieties of roses. These have been planted beautifully carved out lawns and flowers beds. Like the cultural zone which is just across the road in sector 10,this was also planned by Dr. M.S. Randhawa as his interest in horticulture and fondness for flowers was profuse. Every year, either at the end of February or beginning of March, a big festival known as Rose Festival, is celebrated at this garden. Over 20,000 people visit this festival. It’s one of the great celebrations in the city. There are lots of competitions, cultural celebrations and many other events.

Open hand in Chandigarh, India is one of the most significant monuments of the city. The credit for laying down its plan goes to Le Corbusier. It is located in sector 1 in the Capitol Complex. Chandigarh open hand monument has been designed in the form of a giant hand made from metal sheets that rotates like a weathercock, indicating the direction of wind. This giant hand is 14 metres high and weighs around 50 tonnes. 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."

Leisure valley is the most beautiful and popular tourist attraction destination in Chandigarh. A continuum of various theme gardens to take care of the body and spirit of the city. Le Corbusier retained the eroded valley of a seasonal rivulet on the original site of the City and sculptured it into a Linear park now over 8km long .Chandigarh Leisure valley is like a garland of gardens that beautifies the entire city. It begins from Rajendra Park in Sector 1 that is basically used for long walks, yoga and other fitness workout activities and stretches till the Bougainvillea garden in Sector 3. It also covers the splendid garden of roses in Sector 16. Leisure valley takes a curvaceous turn, when it enters Sector 23. It is in the Leisure valley in Chandigarh, India that different kinds of theme gardens are set up.

Pinjore Gardens, also called Yadavindra Gardens are 20 km from Chandigarh, 15 km from Panchkula, on the Chandigarh Shimla road. Taxis and buses ply regularly between Pinjore, Kalka, Panchkula and Chandigarh. Pinjore lies on the foothills of the lower Shivalik ranges. The fascinating Mughal Gardens one of the most popular picnic spots. A mini zoo, plants nursery, a Japanese garden, historic palaces and picnic lawns await tourists. Especially at weekends, fountains are switched on and after dusk, lights pick up the beauty of the palaces by night. Special programs are arranged at the Yadavindra Gardens for the Baisakhi (spring) festival in April and for the Mango Festival in June and July. A range of accommodation is available at Chandigarh, but a taste of royalty can be savored at Pinjore itself by a stay at the Yadavindra Gardens Budgerigar Motel, run by Haryana Tourism.

An offshoot of Shivalik range, Morni hills near Chandigarh are located at a distance of about 45 kms from the city of gardens. It is a beautiful hill resort that has a real scenic beauty. Chandigarh Morni hills have been named after Queen Morni, who is said to rule this city. If you are a nature lover and are fond of bird watching, then Morni hills are just the apt place. Also, it is an ideal destination for those who like to go in for adventurous trips consisting of fun activities like rock climbing, trekking etc. The best time to visit this place is the period between September-March. Situated in the Panchkula district, it is definitely a must visit tourist attraction place, when it comes to Chandigarh excursions.

The Government Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh, owes its existence to the partition of the country in August,1947. It is one of the premier institution of India with a very rich collection of Gandharan sculptures, Pahari and Rajasthani miniature paintings. Before the partition in 1947, the collection of art objects, paintings, sculptures and decorative arts, were housed in the Central Museum, Lahore the then capital of Punjab. The Museum has four wings of which the largest and the most imposing is doubtless the building of the Art Gallery. Another wing constitutes the Natural History Museum, Chandigarh Architecture Museum and National Gallery of Portraits. The Chandigarh Architecture Museum documents the different stages of development from the inception to the present stage of the city of Chandigarh. The campus in which the Museum is situated is surrounded with selective trees adding grandeur to the campus. The vast expanse of the courtyard of the Museum is dotted with some contemporary sculptures suitable for environmental display.