Latest news with #GovernmentMuseumandArtGallery
India.com
07-06-2025
- India.com
Chandigarh: The Ultimate Backpacking Spot You Need To Explore
Popularly known as the 'City Beautiful', Chandigarh is a well-planned city in northern India that serves as the capital of both Punjab and Haryana. With its modernist buildings, clean streets, and lush greenery, Chandigarh has made a name for itself as one of the most sought after travel destinations for backpackers looking for an enriching trip at an affordable price. Its cultural wealth and urban lifestyle offer something unique to everyone. In this regard, I will list seven points describing why Chandigarh is perfect for any backpacker. 1. Cheap Place to Stay The range of budget places available is what makes Chandigarh so appealing to backpackers. Hostels, guesthouses, and budget hotels are commonplace in the city, all of which are specially tailored to travelers seeking to save money without compromising their level of comfort. Most of these places of accommodations offer essential amenities like free Wi-Fi, clean communes, and spaces where backpackers can mingle with other travelers. Moreover, custom booking websites allow these visitors to compare prices and deals allowing them to get the best prices for a hassle free stay. 2. Effective Urban Infrastructure and Relatively Simple Navigation First-time visitors to Chandigarh do not have to worry about getting lost because they can easily navigate the city's well-planned grid layout, which even includes allocated residential, commercial, and recreational zones for each sector. This organized approach to city planning ensures that public markets, tourist attractions, and landmarks are always easy to reach by walking or popular forms of public transportation. For independent traveling backpackers, this seamless infrastructure reduces time wastage and mitigates confusion. 3. Plenty of Historical Heritage and Exciting Cultural Activities Even though it was founded in 1953, Chandigarh still has a lot of history and culture behind it. The city has a number of monuments and museums that showcases India's past and present. Some notable places include: Rock Garden: A garden containing an extensive collection of forgotten industrial waste turned into beautiful sculptures. Government Museum and Art Gallery: Houses artifacts, coins, and paintings from the Harappan civilization and even the ancient era. Open Hand Monument: This powerful symbol of peace and unity signifies the forward thinking nature of the city. These locations act as a source of education and creativity, and are therefore, ideal for backpackers who prefer traveling to culturally rich countries. 4. Exquisite Scenic Wonder and Ecotourism With Shivalik Hills to the northeast, Chandigarh has many tranquil parks and scenic gardens. Nature lovers will also appreciate Sukhna Lake – an artificial lake best for boating, morning walks, or resting by the water. Landscaping at Rose Garden or Zakir Hussain Rose garden is done in a way that attracts photography enthusiasts; it is home to thousands of osmanthus varieties . Chandigarh is considered a cycling capital due to its various parks and bountiful gardens, one of which is the Leisure valley – a huge district park in the southern part of Chandigarh. Other local sites such as Kasauli and Morni Hills are perfect for trekking while a few hours away at Bir Billing, people's hearts can be raced while paragliding. 5. Famous Local Food at Reasonable Cost Any traveler's journey is never complete without savoring the famous dishes of the place they travel to, and Chandigarh does, without a doubt, satisfy that urge. The city is a perfect blend of traditional Punjabi cuisines along with its street food, all at inexpensive prices. From butter chicken, sarso ka saag with makki di roti, chole bhature, and lassi, the locals will never be short of delicacies. To eat out, try out the Sector 7 Market and Elante Mall Food Court. Locals always tell stories about their exploits at dhabas where authentic taste is combined with fantastically low prices. 6. Welcoming Population and Low Crime Rates Chandigarh is well regarded for its inhabitants and their warm reception towards people which makes it a great option for public university students touring India. The citizens are helpful and ready to assist travelers in understanding the city better and even suggesting some insider places. Also, Chandigarh continues to be one of the safest places in India because of its crime rates and law enforcement. This level of safety gives a great opportunity for travelers to move about without the fear of getting harmed in any way. 7. Hub For Other Exciting Places One more factor in support of Chandigarh is that this city is central to a number of other interesting places within North India. Some of the places which one can enjoy a few hours drive include Shimla: A beautiful hill station famous for its British style buildings and great scenery. Amritsar: Most popular for the Golden Temple and the Wagah Border ceremony. Dharamshala and McLeodGanj: These are in the lap of the Himalayas, well known for Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and also the spiritual centres. This proximity means that tourists are able to increase the number of places they wish to visit and enhance their travelling experience. Final Thoughts As a closing remark, it is worth noting that Chandigarh's reasonable prices, its navigation ease, culture, stunning nature, delicious foods, safety, and good connectivity to other places make it suitable for backpackers. If you are a history lover, nature lover, a culinary enthusiast, or an adventure seeker, this city provides endless options. The unique amalgamation of modernity and ancient traditions is what distinguishes the city and what makes it very appealing to tourists. So, get your bags ready, your map out, and get ready to explore the unforgettable city of Chandigarh – the ultimate paradise for backpackers.
Hindustan Times
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Art from God's own country
Kerala is evoked by the catchy line, God's own country. Its waters are stirred by the ripples of crescent-moon like boats. Its emerald-green trees host an astonishing variety of birds flitting like ethereal spirits in the foliage. These scenes are best captured by a sensitive artist whose life and soul is intertwined with nature. A painting of happy birds on a robust jackfruit tree mesmerised the eye at the ongoing exhibition, Art through Print and Paint --- An exploration of how artists engage with materials and how textures, layers, and processes shape meaning. The exhibition is curated by the AIM Gallery and can be viewed at the Government Museum and Art Gallery till May 21, 2025. To commemorate 'International Museums Day (May 18)', the AIM Gallery exhibition also features signed prints of works by artists of such repute as MF Husain and Manu Parekh. Artist Roy K John resides in the pastoral village of Cherumkuzhy in Kerala's Western Ghats, a world-renowned site that showcases incredible India's biodiversity richness. John's village has the nearby reservoirs of Peechi and Chimmini that support a wealth of faunal life due to their perennial waters. They are somewhat similar to the check-dams that breathe life 365 x 24 into the Shivalik foothills that straddle the tricity's horizon. John lives in a veritable cradle of nature. He steals out of his home with his sketch book to spend hours in the forests and by the side of the reservoirs where he observes nature's infinite plays and variations to seek original ideas for his artworks. John then returns to his studio to translate his sketches procured from Aladdin's cave of emerald riches. He fills out his ideas on canvas with a deft use of brush and a striking employment of colour. Kerala life breathes in a stillness far away in a Chandigarh exhibition hall. 'I have done a series of artworks that dwell on birds and the jackfruit tree. Not only am I capturing the green symbolism of Kerala through such artworks but I convey my concern over the threats to nature. We must realise that nature is preserved through sacrifices and making tireless efforts,' John told this writer. Soil nourished by soldiers' toil As a patriotic poet may put it, flowers are able to bloom in desolate battlefields of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) only because the blood and toil of our soldiers nourishes the soil. For those soldiering in the barren heights of Kargil-Ladakh sectors where not a tree is to be seen in the alpine screes, it is small flowering shrubs that emerge from cracks in the rocks to form miniature gardens. Flowers are the aesthetics that temper the blood and gore of Infantry life, the proverbial petals that block the outlet of rifle barrels. These flowers of 17,000 ft are symbols of 'life and resilience in the barren Kargil mountains', as an Infantry Major expressed it. In the forested reaches of J&K, where coniferous ridges, bubbling brooks and alpine flowers adorn the meadows, flowers are a brief and beautiful rest for soldiers undertaking the feet-blistering grind of forward-domination patrols to guard against infiltrators and psychopath killer terrorists holed up in caves. vjswild2@
Hindustan Times
11-05-2025
- General
- Hindustan Times
Honest & dedicated green engineers
The brown-headed barbet or large green barbet is an animated bird of our gardens. Known in native cultures as the 'Bada basanta', the barbet sets off an incessant call, kor-r-r, kutroo-kutroo-kutroo, with the first whiff of basant's warmth. The call is instantly responded to by others of the barbet 'baradari' and soon an ear-piercing chorus resounds across the groves, somewhat reminiscent of faraway and dreaded sirens of Covid lockdown and the Pakistani drone/ missile crisis! The barbet and the woodpecker are two of the ecological or ecosystem engineers in our groves. They excavate nest holes in trees. Other birds such as parrots, owls and mynas look for nest holes excavated by woodpeckers and barbets as they themselves do not have the wherewithal such as powerful large bills and shock-absorber adaptations to their skulls. Barbets can also avoid the very arduous task of hole drilling by grabbing a nest cavity freshly drilled by a woodpecker! Both the barbets take turns to drill the nest hole and later share in incubation duties. Between two to four eggs are laid by the female and the nesting season is normally in the months of March to May. The nest is sometimes bare at the bottom of the hole or lined with some of the wood chips carved out by the parents. Anuj Jain, an apparel retailer of Sector 17 and an accomplished wildlife photographer, has had the good fortune of barbets nesting right opposite his Sector 18 residence. 'In March 2020, during the Covid lockdown, I spotted a barbet spitting out wood chips while excavating a nest in a tree right in front of my house. I was fortunate to capture a few photos at the time. It wasn't until more than five years later that I witnessed something similar again. This time, a pair was taking turns preparing their nest. One would spend less than five minutes chiseling the wood, while the other waited right at the entrance, ready to switch. It was mesmerising to watch the dedicated parents work tirelessly through the day to make the nest suitable for future progeny,' Jain told this writer. The myth of the Sarus pair In a social era of relationships breaking down all too soon, a sensitive artist can despair at human reality. The rupture with the ideal of long, enduring relationships particularly when it comes to marital fidelity is all too evident. Manifestations of nature may seem to nurture the waning human ideal. An oil on canvas by Mumbai artist Pradeep L Mishra displayed a richness of colour and vividly evoked the Sarus coupling, whose life seems one of perfect unison. His work, Live to Love, was on display at the exhibition, Art through Print and Paint --- An exploration of how artists engage with materials and how textures, layers, and processes shape meaning. The exhibition was curated by the AIM Gallery and staged at the Government Museum and Art Gallery. 'My works seek inspiration from nature's themes. My concerns stemming from contemporary human social life affect me deeply and reflect in my works. Why can't we seem to have enduring relationships? Why are we causing each other so much unhappiness by not adjusting to each other? I painted the Sarus pair to showcase how these birds form enduring bonds, which has inspired folklore and cultural themes,' Mishra told this writer. The twist in the artist's pictorial tale is delivered by real birds. Scientific data collection and field observation disproves popular folklore and reveals cases of divorce (separation) in Sarus cranes. Wild cranes can remain paired for life, but they can engage in extra-pair mating, too. Mate change is known in almost all crane species in captivity, some of whom are similarly anointed with the myth of 'I'll be loving you eternally'. vjswild2@
