The city gets its name from the famous Chandi Mandir (a temple for Goddess Durga) and a well-known ‘garh’ (fort) in the area. The two words were combined to form ‘Chandigarh’. After the 1947 partition, Punjab’s old capital, Lahore, became part of Pakistan. This created a need for a new capital for Punjab, and they chose Chandigarh.
Then-Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru wanted to build a modern city that would showcase a newly independent India’s capabilities to the world. French architect Le Corbusier planned the city.
Interestingly, he designed the city’s layout based on the human body. The Capitol Complex is the ‘head’, the City Centre is the ‘heart’, and the parks and green spaces are the ‘lungs’. The city is divided into ‘sectors’, and each sector was planned to have its own schools, markets, and parks. But you won’t find a Sector 13 in Chandigarh.
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