Chennai is India's fourth
largest city and capital of Tamil Nadu state
but despite its size it is an example of how
pleasant other Indian cities might be if
they were not so overcrowded. Chennaisis are
not only zealous guardians of Tamil culture,
which they regard as inherently superior to
the hybridised cultures further north, but
they also appear to know the meaning of
relaxation and efficiency with regard to
public services a remarkable combination to
be found only in isolated pockets elsewhere
in India! Here it's possible to use public
buses without undue discomfort and the urban
commuter trains without a second thought.
There are, it is true, slums and beggars as
there are in other Indian cities, but they
are far less obtrusive and smaller in
number. The city also has the advantage of a
long beach front on the Bay of Bengal which
ensures a good supply of refreshing sea air
and provides a popular place to relax in the
evening.
Chennai was the site of the first important
settlement of the East India Company founded
in 1639 on land given by the Raja of
Chandragiri, the last representative of the
Vijayanagar rulers of Hampi. A small fort
was built in the settlement in 1644 and a
town which subsequently became known as
Georgetown, in the area of Fort St George,
arose north of it. The settlement became
independent of Batnam in Java in 1683 and
was granted its first municipal charter in
1688 by James IL It thus has the oldest
Municipal Corporation in India, a fact which
Tamil Nadu state governors are only too keen
to point out at every available opportunity.
During the rivalry between the British and
French for supremacy in India during the
18th and early 19th centuries its fortunes
waxed and waned, being briefly occupied by
the French on one occasion, and the base
from which Qive set out on his military
expeditions during the Wars of the Carnatic.
During the 19th century it was the seat of
the Chennai Presidency, one of the four
divisions of British Imperial India.
Though it has long been important for
textile manufacture, a great deal of
industrial expansion has taken place in
recent years and its concerns now include
motor assembly plants, railway coach and
truck works, engineering plants, cigarette
factories, film studios and educational
institutes.
CHANDIGARH (population 250,000) When the
Punjab was partitioned its capital, Lahore,
went to Pakistan. Initially Amritsar became
the capital of the Indian Punjab but since
it was uncomfortably close to the Pakistan
border the decision was made to con-struct a
totally new capital and the French architect
Le Corbusier produced the plan. Later the
Punjab was split into the two states of the
Punjab and Haryana so today chandigarh
serves as the capital of both states. It is
directly administered from New Delhi as a
union territory. Construction of Chandigarh
commenced in the '50s and although to many
western visitors it appears to be a rather
sterile city and hopelessly sprawling,
Indians are very proud of it and
Chandigarh's residents feel that it is a
good place to live.
Chandigarh is a great disappointment —
dismal and dull. Like so many examples of
mid-20th century urban planning (read "pre
oil-crisis') it was very much designed with
wheeled transport in mind. Plus between
buildings there are long, ugly, barren
stretches of wasteland. In Le Corbusier's
home environment they might be parks or
gardens but in India emply ground is
obviously doomed. Still the 'rock garden' is
an eccentric little amusement.
Information & Orientation
Chandigarh is located on the edge of the
Siwalik Hills, the outermost edge of the
Himalayas. It is divided into 31 numbered
sectors, separated by broad avenues. The bus
station and modern shopping centre are in
Sector 17. The railway station is
inconveniently far out of Chandigarh so
buses are much more convenient than trains.
The Secretariat and other important
government buildings are in Sector 1 to the
north. The museum is in Sector 10 and the
Rose Garden in Sector 16, next to the bus
station, The shopping centre has restaur-ants,
ice cream parlours, book shops and a wide
variety of other retail outlets. The tourist
office is upstairs in the bus station.
Government Buildings
The Secretariat and the Legislative Assembly
Buildings are in Sector 1. Between 10 am and
12 noon you can go to the top of the
Secretariat from where there is an excellent
view over Chandigarh. Eventually it is
intended to build a huge revolving hand to
be the centrepiece of the government sector
and the symbol of Chandigarh.
Close to the government buildings is a
not-to-be-missed attraction, the bizarre
Rock Garden (25p admission) — a sort of
concrete maze with a lot of rocks and very
little garden. A very strange and whimsical
fantasy. Close to this is the artificial
Sukhna lake which covers about three square
km. You can rent, row boats on the lake or
just stroll round Its two km perimeter.
Museum & Art Gallery
Located in Sector 10 and open daily except
Mondays, the art gallery contains a modest
collection of Indian stone sculptures dating
back to the Gandhara period, together with
some miniature paintings and modern art. The
adjacent museum has fossils and implements
of pre-historic man which have been found in
India.
Rose Garden The Sector 16 Rose Garden is claimed to
be the biggest in Asia and contains more
than a thousand varieties of roses.
Places to Eat There are many restaurants in the modern
shopping centre. Sai Sweets at 1102 in
Sector 22 (about midway between the bun hull
and the Aroma Hotel) has expensive (Rs 8)
but really excellent thalis and good chat.
The Indian Coffee House, in the shopping
centre, is also a good, economic place to
eat.
Getting There Buses depart from the Interstate Bus
Terminal in Delhi (near Kashmir Gate) every
hour for the five hour trip to Chandigarh.
There is a much wider choice of buses than
usual on this route. Apart from the regular
buses (Rs 20) there are about six de-luxe
buses daily (Rs 40) and three or four
air-con buses (Rs 60) which actually show
Indian movies en route! Buses are equally
frequent from Chandigarh to other centres —
to Simla costs Rs 12 (Rs 20 de-luxe), Kulu
Rs 25 or Manali Rs 30. It takes about 14
hours to Manali by bus, only nine by taxi.
It's five hours to Simla, 12 hours to Kulu,
six hours to Araritsar, 10 hours to
Dharamsala and seven hours to Pathankot.
Buses are more convenient than trains from
Chandigarh but railway reservations can be
made at the booking agency in sector 22 (tel
29117) and enquiries can be made by phoning
27605. There are daily air connections to
Delhi (Rs 150) or to Jammu (Rs 234) and
Srinagar (Rs 319).
Getting Around
Chandigarh is much too spread out to get
around on foot but a day is certainly
sufficient to see all it has to offer. There
is an extensive bus network and this is the
cheapest way of getting around —Bus 1 runs
by the Aroma Hotel as far as the government
building In Sector 1. Buses 6. 6A and 6B all
run to the railway station. Cycle rickshaws
operate on the normal bargaining basis but
Chandigarh is a bit big even for them — if
you're planning a longer trip across the
city consider an auto-rickshw, they're
metered. If you do want to try walking start
off at Sector 1 and stroll back through
Sector 10 (Museum and Art Gallery) and 16
(Rose Garden)to the bus station and shopping
center In Sector 17.
Things to Buy Woollen sweaters and shawls from the
Punjab are good buys, especially in the
Government Emporium. The Chandi-garh
shopping centre is probably the most
extensive in India.
Back
