About Capitol Complex Chandigarh

Chandigarh capitol complex houses the seat of Government. Initially, it served as the seat only for the Govt of Punjab, but now it has the headquarters of both, the Govt of Punjab and Haryana. The credit for the awesome designing of the Capitol complex goes to Le Corbusier. Located in Sector 1, capitol complex in Chandigarh, India consists of three main edifices, namely, the Secretariat, the Legislative Assembly and the High Court. There was a plan to build a fourth building also, which is going to be the Raj Bhavan, as in the Governor's Palace or a Museum of Knowledge. However, till yet, it has not come into existence. The three buildings of the Capitol complex stand majestically representing themselves as the temples of democracy of free India.

The Capitol Complex is Le Corbusier's most spectacular work. The magnificent edifices, set against the Shivalik peaks, stand "as massive concrete sculptures, representing the monumental character authority that the complex represents. It is the seat of the government of the States of Punjab and Haryana. It comprises three epoch-making master-pieces: the Secretariat, the High Court and the Legislative Assembly. Separated by large piazzas, the subtle and most evocative grouping of these buildings is of breath-taking beauty.

And in the centre stands the giant metallic sculpture of The Open Hand, the official emblem of Chandigarh, signifying the city's credo of 'open to give' open to receive'.

THE HIGH COURT

The law-interpreting monument was built in the Capitol Complex during 1951-57. This structure has a double roof, projecting over the office block like a parasol or an inverted umbrella. The magnificent outward sweep of the upper roof is symbolic of protection and justice to the people. The three vertical piers, rising 60 feet from the floor and painted in bright colours form the grand entrance to the building. A gigantic egg-crate screen covers the building façade. On the rear walls of the court rooms, hand the giant woolen tapestries designed by Le Corbusier.

THE SECRETARIAT

The law-executing monument is the largest and tallest of the three edifices in the Capitol Complex. Built during 1953-59, it is shaped like an eight-storeyed concrete slab, with its distinctive brise-soleil-louvered screen of deeply sculptured two-storey porticos in the centre, housing the offices of ministers. The cafeteria rests stop the terrace is like an art object, giving a spectacular view of the city.

THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY

The profile of this law-forming monument epitomizes stately grandeur. Square in plan, with a monumental portico standing free from the main building, it faces the High Court. The shape of the cupola is an obliquely truncated hyperbolic parabolic, extending well above the roof line. A pyramid covers the upper chamber of the erstwhile bicameral system and offers an exciting counterpoint to the cupola, lending artistic grace to the entire complex.

THE OPEN HAND MONUMENT

One of the most significant monuments planned by Le Corbusier in Chandigarh is the Open Hand. The monument is a place to visit in Chandigarh. Rising 85 feet high from a sunken trench, a giant hand in metal sheets is designed to rotate "like a weather cock, not to show the incertitude of ideas, but to indicate symbolically the direction of wind (that is the state of affairs)." It is also meant to convey a message of peace "open to receive." Amongst the other monumental places to visit in Chandigarh are the Tower of Shadows, Geometric Hill, and Martyr's Memorial.