Chandigarh is a city and union territory of India that serves as the shared capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana. Planned in the early 1950s, it is widely regarded as one of the best-known examples of modernist urban design in India and is administered directly by the Government of India through an administrator.
| Type | Union Territory; capital of two states |
|---|---|
| Country | India |
| Region | Northern India |
| Capital of | Punjab and Haryana |
| Established | 1 November 1966 (as Union Territory) |
| Master planner | Le Corbusier |
| Official languages | English, Punjabi, Hindi (in use) |
| UNESCO World Heritage | Capitol Complex (inscribed 2016, as part of "The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier") |
Chandigarh lies at the foothills of the Shivalik range in the Himalayan piedmont. The city is bordered by Punjab on the west and north and by Haryana on the east and south, while Himachal Pradesh lies a short distance to the north-east. Although geographically small, the union territory functions as a major administrative, educational, and commercial centre for the surrounding region, including the wider area sometimes referred to as the Chandigarh Tricity along with Mohali in Punjab and Panchkula in Haryana.
After the Partition of India in 1947, the historic capital of undivided Punjab, Lahore, became part of Pakistan. The Government of India decided to build a new capital for the Indian state of Punjab. The site at the foot of the Shivaliks was selected, and a master plan was prepared. The initial plans were drawn up by the American planner Albert Mayer with the Polish-American architect Matthew Nowicki. Following Nowicki's death in 1950, the project was entrusted to the Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier, who worked with his cousin Pierre Jeanneret and the British architects Maxwell Fry and Jane Drew.
The city was laid out on a grid of rectangular sectors, each conceived as a self-contained neighbourhood unit with housing, schools, markets, and open spaces. The plan emphasised hierarchies of roads (the "7Vs"), generous green belts, and a clear separation of residential, commercial, and institutional zones. The Capitol Complex in Sector 1, comprising the Legislative Assembly, the Secretariat, and the High Court, together with the Open Hand Monument, is the symbolic and architectural centrepiece designed by Le Corbusier.
As a union territory, Chandigarh is administered by the Government of India through an Administrator, a post historically held concurrently by the Governor of Punjab. Local civic governance is carried out by the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh. The territory sends one member to the Lok Sabha. The Punjab and Haryana High Court, located in the Capitol Complex, has jurisdiction over both states and the union territory.
The city is situated on a gently sloping plain between two seasonal rivers, the Sukhna Choe and the Patiala Ki Rao. The Sukhna Lake, an artificial reservoir created in 1958 by damming the Sukhna Choe, is a prominent feature on the north-eastern edge of the city. The climate is humid subtropical, with hot summers, a monsoon season from late June to September, and cool winters.
Chandigarh has a