Since we didn't want to spend the last 5 days of our holidays in Smelly Delhi we decided on visiting another city; the capital of Punjab. Chandigahr is the actually an invented city, arbitrarily placed over former farm lands by the state of Punjab. After Independence and the separation of Pakistan, the Punjabi people lost their capital Lahore. As a sign of the New India, moving forward and embracing its modern identity as the most populous democracy in the world, Prime Minister Nehru decided to build a new city from scratch by bidding out its urban planning to Western architects. The Swiss architect, Le Corbusier, ultimately won the bid and set out to plan a city laid out in superblocks in which work, education and recreation (body, mind and soul) are integrated into a unified cityscape.
Today, only 50 years after it inception, Chandigarh is home to almost a million Punjabis, a massive complex of political and cultural institutions and boasts one of the highest standards of living in India, all of this within the context of mid 20th century, post war, European architecture.
If you've noticed I've taken quite a few pictures of turbans in their native setting. I think the turban is misunderstood and falsely represented in the West. Most people are scared of the turban, intimidated by the turban, and even make fun of the turban. Turban wearers are not to be feared or laughed at, in fact, they are mostly worn by Sikhs, a peaceful offshoot of Hinduism that rejects caste distinctions. Turbans are worn to bundle and set a man's hair because it's viewed as sacred and, therefore, not to be cut. I found the turban rather distinguished looking and even tried my own version. Alas, my lack of hair and proper material made me fail miserably.
We spent our few days touring the government buildings and recreational parks of the Punjabi capital. Our highlight was a massive rock garden, discovered decades after a single man created an extensive playground out of the left-over materials from Chandigarhs first phase of construction.
Since we didn't want to spend the last 5 days of our holidays in Smelly Delhi we decided on visiting another city; the capital of Punjab. Chandigahr is the actually an invented city, arbitrarily placed over former farm lands by the state of Punjab. After Independence and the separation of Pakistan, the Punjabi people lost their capital Lahore. As a sign of the New India, moving forward and embracing its modern identity as the most populous democracy in the world, Prime Minister Nehru decided to build a new city from scratch by bidding out its urban planning to Western architects. The Swiss architect, Le Corbusier, ultimately won the bid and set out to plan a city laid out in superblocks in which work, education and recreation (body, mind and soul) are integrated into a unified cityscape.
Today, only 50 years after it inception, Chandigarh is home to almost a million Punjabis, a massive complex of political and cultural institutions and boasts one of the highest standards of living in India, all of this within the context of mid 20th century, post war, European architecture.
If you've noticed I've taken quite a few pictures of turbans in their native setting. I think the turban is misunderstood and falsely represented in the West. Most people are scared of the turban, intimidated by the turban, and even make fun of the turban. Turban wearers are not to be feared or laughed at, in fact, they are mostly worn by Sikhs, a peaceful offshoot of Hinduism that rejects caste distinctions. Turbans are worn to bundle and set a man's hair because it's viewed as sacred and, therefore, not to be cut. I found the turban rather distinguished looking and even tried my own version. Alas, my lack of hair and proper material made me fail miserably.
We spent our few days touring the government buildings and recreational parks of the Punjabi capital. Our highlight was a massive rock garden, discovered decades after a single man created an extensive playground out of the left-over materials from Chandigarhs first phase of construction.
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