a Re-Discovery
The cozy winter sun gives a great opportunity to commute in the City beautiful on Bicycle with much ease. One of the best things I find about it is that the slow pace gives a great chance to explore the city in much more details. On one such random ride in the city, I came across an unknown, hidden and ignored treasure of the city.
The city, which has been trying since quite a few years to get into the ‘World Heritage’ list, has actually overlooked and ignored a few very important and deserving Heritage sites of the city. This note is about a little re-discovery of past connections, a lost heritage and its revival by the Citizens of the city.
Where and What is this Lost Heritage
In sector 34-A, on the road connecting the passport office to state library, what may appear to any passerby a dump of refuse and overgrown weeds on roadside, is actually a long forgotten bookmark in the History of the city. On 12th May 1978 , the foundation stone of New City Centre of the City viz Sector 34 was laid by the then Chief Commissioner of Chandigarh , Mr. TN Chaturvedi. This re-enforced concrete structure, on its three sides bears motifs that represent the culture ,spirit and vision behind the inception of the city. The brass plate, describing the structure has long gone missing.
M N Sharma the first Indian Chief Architect of the City, says : “The experience I gained in the planning of Sector 17 as a city centre, I used in the Development of sector 34 as a Sub city centre and on 12 may 1978, we laid the foundation monument commemorating this event.”
However , conspicuous by its absence, on any of the list of tourist spots of Chandigarh and like a similar and unknown structure in Sector 35 (Foundation stone of 2nd Phase of Chandigarh/1966) this symbol of past glory is today biting dust due to the neglect and ignorance of the authorities. What could have been an important Tourist destination on the Chandigarh's map, today lies in shackles, marred by its unkempt surroundings and lack of any care.
Symbolism in Chandigarh
All over the city on various structures there exist a lot of motifs ranging from figures of indigenous animals to abstract figures. All of them represent the culture , spirit and vision of Chandigarh. However not many people are aware of this fact .
On the foundation stone there are following motifs :
1. Bird of Peace by Mr MN Sharma , that represents the constant need of working towards the world peace.
2. A wheat ear : This symbol was traced from the etchings on the walls of ramp of secretariat , where it was made by some daily wagers while on work. Corbusier got it traced on tracing paper and then replicated it at this structure .
3. Sun and space : Designed by Corbusier ,represent the vision behind the planning of Chandigarh .
On Sector 35 structure, there exist a beautiful Peacock also picked from indigenous drawings of workers and an Etched Map of Chandigarh .
M.N. Sharma said : ‘I think it would be great interest to historians ,and research scholars from all over the world who come to Chandigarh, the most modern city designed by Le Corbusier."
Reviving the Heritage
On Sunday, 17th January, 11 :30 am onwards, atleast 15 youth from the city , from varied background would be coming ahead to clean up the place. The place, which has been neglected over years, now has a dense weed growth of ‘Dhatura’ bushes and wild grass along with littering, Human excreta and disposed bottles of abusive drugs etc. We would be armed with ’big brooms’ , ‘Grass cutting swords’, kassi /tasla etc. and will divide the work- load amongst us.
In the land of Gandhi, when it comes to bring about the change in society, what’s better to describe this than his own wordings - ‘Be the Change’ .Youth all over the country is becoming aware towards its role and participation in the society, people in Chandigarh are also not behind.
With the aim to positively channelize the energy of Chandigarh youth, we have been time and again exploring new and alternative methods of involving them in constructive and expressive work as this.
Event Schedule
Time : Sunday , 17th Jan, 11:30 am - 3 pm
Venue : Sector 34-A 150 mtrs from Hotel Orange, on road behind Piccadily Cinema towards petrol pump.
Activity : Cleaning up , brooming, deweeding, garbage collection around the Heritage Structure by city youth
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