History
At the dawn of independence, the first Prime Minister of free india, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru had a vision before him when he spoke of 'tryst of destiny' on the momentous midnight of August 14-15, 1947. Five years later the same vision was agriculturated when he inspired the planners and builders of Chandigarh saying, "Let this be a new town, symbolic of freedom of India, unfettered by the traditions of the past...... an expression of the nation's faith in the future".
Chandigarh originally built as the capital of Punjab, today not only symbolizes resurrection of the indomitable spirit of enterprise and hardwork of the punjabi but also epitomizes the nation's sustained efforts in re-building itself with the fervour of newly won freedom. With the partition of country in 1947, Lahore, the old capital of Punjab was lost to Pakistan thus creating need for a new capital thus creating a need for new capital in the form of Chandigarh.
The site for Chandigarh was selected by a committee set by the Government of Punjab in 1948. The team surveyed a number of cities and finally came to the present site of Chandigarh. This site was selected due to its nearness to the national capital and availability of sufficient water supply the year round. The site was in the shape of farm land dotted with 24 villages surrounded with mango groves and ponds. It was bounded by two seasonal rivers, the Patiali Rao and the Sukhna Choe in the North-West and the South-East respectively.
It lie on the latitude of 30°50 minutes and longitude 76°48 minutes, the altitude of the town varies between 304.8 meters to 365.76 meters above sea level. It has extreme climate, the temperature from freezing point in the winter to 45°C in the summer. The total rainfall is about 1.01 meters distributed over June to August in the summer and January to February in the winter. The direction of winds is South-East to North-West in the summer and North-West to South-East in the winter.
The first master plan was prepared in 1949 by the American Firm of Mayer, Whittlesley and Glass in association with a young brilliant Architect, Mathew Nowicki. However, Nowicki died in an air crash in 1950 while returning to United States and the town had its first set-back. Planner Albert Meyer was heart broken and reticent to continue. This necessitated the selection of a new team for Chandigarh.
A committee consisting of Administrator P.N. Thapar and Chief Engineer P.L. Verma was sent abroad. They selected the world famous Architect Le-Carbusier in Paris in 1951 and commissioned him with the task of preparing a master plan for the new capital. He was assisted by three Senior Architects, Maxwell fry, his wife Jane B. Drew and Carbusier cousin, M. Pierre Jeanneret. Le-Carbusier took the charge of developing the master plan, designing the capital complex and establishing architectural contol.
Chandigarh is a modern city with a pre-historic past. Some 8000 years ago the area was the home of the Harappans. It was first discovered in 1969 when construction work was going on in Sector 17 at the basement storeys of the show rooms when diggers came across earthen vessels, jars, pottery, bangles, etc. at a depth of one to two meters. Similarly, pottery was found beneath the Church in Sector 18 and Hotel Sunbeam in Sector 22 Chandigarh. The area in Sector 24 on which Indira Holiday Home and Officers apartments are built was also a site of Harappan settlement. The Harappan site at the Chandigarh can be broadly bracketed with other Harappan sites particularly of Ropar, Sanghol, Bara, Dhang and Mehranwala. Along with Harappan Culture some articles belonging to Kushan, Gurjar, Parithihar, and the Muslim Culture were also found. It was in the Year 1985 that Archaeological Survey of India st up its Circle at Chandigarh.
