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Chandigarh hosts carnival to boost tourism
by Ashwini Kaushal

     Chandigarh: Chandigarh showcased itself as a city with enormous tourism potential organizing a two-day carnival that contained camel rides, kite competitions and rural themed sports with foot- tapping music in the background. It was an absorbing mix of vibrant fun and festivity.

     Rich in terms of its rural heritage and renowned for its planned architecture and quality of life, Chandigarh has been nominated for heritage status at the World Heritage Centre. "Chandigarh is now going to be a very important city internationally. We have got the heritage status from UNESCO. In London, we participated in the World Travel Mart and in Paris we met UNESCO and Le Corbusier Foundation, said Vivek Atray, Director, Tourism, Chandigarh. "This international exposure has been very useful because Chandigarh has been known in India quite well, but abroad we are not so well known. But, now we are going to be better known and people have been asking us about our architecture, urban planning and quality of life. I think we'll get better exposure in future," Atray added. Last year, the theme was `Fun, Frolic and France' and this year, it is `Sing, Song and Singapore'. Residents of Chandigarh are being wooed with lucrative offers to visit Singapore. Called `Uniquely Singapore' the carnival this year displayed Singaporean culture, films, music, games and costumes. Both Chandigarh and Singapore share common experiences in their bid to boost tourism. "I see a lot of potential, both in Singapore and Chandigarh, to have a cross exchange of tourists and people from Chandigarh and around the region, going to Singapore and most importantly Singaporeans coming to Chandigarh to experience the culture and sightseeing in and around Chandigarh. So, we can alone promote people-to-people contacts," says Inderjeet Singh, a Member of Parliament in Singapore. Being the capital of both Punjab and Haryana, Chandigarh boasts of a rich and diverse culture, besides dance and vibrant music, all waiting to be explored. The city derives its name from a temple of goddess Chandi (the Chandi Mandir) located in nearby Panchkula District of Haryana. Chandigarh is known for its high standard of living and tops the list of Indian States (Provinces) and Union Territories with a Human Development Index of 0.674. Chandigarh has two satellite cities (both of which share a border with it): Panchkula and Mohali. Sometimes, the triangle of these three cities is collectively called as the Chandigarh Tricity. The city has a sub-tropical continental monsoon climate characterized by a seasonal rhythm, hot summers, slightly cold winters, unreliable rainfall and great variation in temperature (0 0C to 42 0C). In winters, frost sometimes occurs during December and January. The rural traditions of the city and of Punjab have also not taken a backseat, and are sure to captivate everyone. Be it "Makki di Roti" and "Sarson da Saag" (the famous dishes) or the folk dance "Gidda" - whole world now enjoys it. These carnivals are a unique attempt to start a two-way traffic between two countries.
-Dec 6,  2006

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