Government Museum and Art Gallery
Open from 10.00 hrs to 16.30hrs. all days except Monday and official holidays.
An important building designed by Le Corbusier, in the moving spirit behind its eventual construction in 1968 was Dr. M.S. Randhawa, Chandigarh's first Chief Commissioner, and himself an art scholar. Ratna Mathur Fabri, an outstanding Indian designer made the museum furniture, display screens, showcases and frames. The present museum (earlier housed in temporary quarters) opened on May 6,1968.In 1949 the collection of the Central Museum, Lahore, was divided between India and Pakistan. India's share, the core collection of this museum, included 619 Gandhara sculptures and 92 ancient sculptures from other periods, as well as 447 miniature paintings (mainly from the Punjab Hills but with some Persian, Mughal and Rajasthani works in addition). Besides there were small collection of objects in stucco and terra cotta metal, ivory, lacquer, ceramic, enamel and fabric. Over the past 40 years more than 9,000 objects have been acquired, the total number of works now exceeds 10,000. A guide to the museum, a catalogue of contemporary art, a catalogue of Brahmanical sculptures and series of picture postcards are on sale in the museum lobby. Art scholars may consult more than 6,000 books and journals in the museum's reference library. All the manuscripts of Dr. M.S. Randhawa are also preserved here. The museum's documentation section has an extensive collection of photographs and slides. Documentation of the Gandhara Collection has been computerised: computerised documentation of other collections is underway.
Museum of the evolution of life
Open from 10.00 hrs to 16.40 hrs all days except Monday and official holidays.
Opened on August 14,1973. A large cyclorama gallery is the focus of the museum; it depicts the origin of the earth and the evolution of life. Other galleries introduce the viewer to astronomy, geology and the world of ancient man.
Child Art Gallery
Open from 10.00 hrs to 16.30hrs all days except Monday and official holidays.
This gallery exhibits works by young artists of the city. The museum frequently organises art workshops for children.
National Gallery of Portraits
Open from 09.00 hrs to 17.00 hrs all days except Saturday & Sunday and official holidays.
Opened on September 11,1977 with photographs and paintings of 125 prominent figures of India's Independence movement. The exhibits are intended to chronicle the struggle for freedom from 1857 to 1947. The gallery now contains 1066 photographs plus facsimiles of original writings, sculptures, ceramic murals and glass-box tableaux depicting turning points in the independence movement. The gallery's library contains some 1300 books on the freedom struggle. One can also hear the taped voices of many of India's patriots.
International dolls museum
Open from 10.00 hrs to 17.00 hrs all days except official holidays.
Set up on December 24, 1985 in Bal Bhawan, Sector 23, it contains more than 300 dolls from nearly every country in the world. Ten ceramic murals and a large model train completes the display.
Punjab Kala Kendra
Open from 10.00 hrs to 17.00 hrs all days except Sunday and official holidays.
Set up in Sector-16, the Kendra is the office of the Punjab Arts Council (Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi). Exhibitions are frequently organised in its large galleries and the Punjab Lalit Kala Akademy's permanent collection of contemporary art is also on display here.
The Rock Garden
Open from 10.00 hrs to 19.00 hrs all days except Thursday and official holidays.
This unique sculpture garden, the work of the city's internationally acclaimed artist Nek Chand, spreads over 64 acres. The visitor is led through a maze of paths, chambers and canyons, each presenting a glimpse of a fantasy world. The Rock Garden has charmed millions of visitors since it was first opened to the public in 1976 not only by the visual delights if offers, but its strange history. Nek Chand was a road inspector of the city Public Works Department when he began to transform a dump of discarded building materials. He kept the garden a closely guarded secret.....Never suspecting that one day critics would praise his unique works and he would exhibit them in Paris's Museum of Modern Art and in other cities around the world. The first phase of the rock Garden is a small canyon... part natural, albeit peculiar, rock forms, and part amalgam of broken ceramic fixtures, pebbles and coal slag. It's the sort of place that might be inhabited by trolls. The canyon opens into a series of "chambers" each one filled with scores of human and animal forms in concrete and broken ceramic or glass. Each one is different. The second phase recreates a mountain village on the banks of a stream, its inhabitants --some humble, --some aristocratic --sensed rather than seen.
Sukhna Lake
A manmade lake spread over 3 square kilometers on the northern border of the city. At the entrance to the park one reads Corbusier's Edict of the Lake."The founders of Chandigarh have offered this lake and dam to the citizens of the new city so that they may escape the humdrum of the city life and enjoy the beauty of nature in peace and silence".
The tree-shaded promenade around the lake is a favorite spot to stroll and enjoy the tranquil ambience. Paddle-boats and yachting are another pleasant diversion....or one may simply relax at the cafe run by the Chandigarh Tourism Development Corporation.
The lake and its heavily wooded shores constitute a nationally protected wetland. This is a favorite spot for bird watchers. From December through February, aside from scores of local species, one can see many species of aquatic birds from Central Asia and Siberia that find the lake a pleasant place to pass the winter. The lake also has a full length water course, developed in 1989 when the city hosted the 1989 Asia Rowing Championship.
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