Lakes in Chandigarh

Sukhna was part of the city plan from the start. Le Corbusier created it with the project's chief engineer by damming the Sukhna Choe, a seasonal stream off the Shivaliks, and he insisted on two rules to keep it quiet: no motorboats on the water and no traffic on top of the dam, which became the promenade. The architects were attached to the place: Pierre Jeanneret's ashes were immersed in the lake in 1970.

Silt has been the lake's problem from the beginning. Land in the catchment was planted with forest, and in 1974 the stream was diverted to bypass the lake, which is now fed through silt-settling pots. The forest of that catchment is today the Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary. The Rock Garden lies just to the west of the lake. Hours and the map are on the Sukhna Lake page.

• Walk the promenade. About 5 km of walking and cycling paths run along the water, used for morning runs and yoga, picnics and sunset walks.
• Go out on the water. Two- and four-seater pedal boats, shikaras (covered wooden boats) and a solar cruise are sold at the ticket counter; prices are set by type of boat.
• Have your portrait drawn. Artists along the promenade charge roughly ₹200–500.
• Sit in the Garden of Silence at the far end, where a seated Buddha rises from rings of steps.
• Walk to the Chandigarh Bird Park in the Nagar Van woodland, about ten minutes behind the lake, with walk-through aviaries.
• Go into the forest. Behind the lake the Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary opens two 9-km trails, Nepli and Kansal, past check dams and small still lakes. Entry is by e-permit from the forest department site, roughly ₹50 for Indian visitors and ₹100 for foreigners, with a daily cap per gate; the sanctuary is usually closed to visitors in the rainy season.

In winter Sukhna becomes a resting place for migratory waterbirds, and it is a protected national wetland as well as a Ramsar site, the first in Chandigarh. The Chandigarh Bird Club counts the lake's waterfowl every year on 12 November, Salim Ali's birthday, and the ruddy shelduck has repeatedly come out on top. Bar-headed geese arrive too: the swan-like rajhans of Sanskrit poetry is usually taken to be this goose. For pintails and other ducks the forest department floated bamboo islands on the lake, to give them somewhere to rest when the water stands too high for mudflats. More species are on the birds of Chandigarh page.

Inside the city limits Sukhna is the only large lake. These two are outside the union territory.

Winter mornings are the time for migratory birds; evenings, all year, are the time for the promenade. October to March is comfortable. May and June are the months to avoid, with daytime highs around 38–39 °C. During the monsoon the lake hosts the Mango Festival. Month-by-month details are on the Chandigarh weather page.