Marriage and medicine for Chandigarh

Chandigarh – the hub city of North India – is launching a new scheme to give overseas visitors the chance to attend traditional Indian weddings.

“Weddings in north India are extremely grand occasions and will provide a lot of entertainment for foreign tourists,” said the director of Chandigarh Tourism, Vivek Atray. “European visitors in particular will relish the glamorous and graceful ceremonies.”

Arrangements are being finalised with several of the city’s leading hotels including the Mountview, Shivalik View, Park View and Hotel Chandigarh Beckons; and the initiative is due to get underway in December.

Mr Atray says most marrying couples will have no objection to foreign tourists witnessing their festivities. “The idea will be a smash hit!” he says.

Chandigarh has also started promoting itself as a major centre for medical tourism – most notably eye surgery.

Local hospitals including the Fortis and Grewal Eye Institute have been granted international certification enabling foreign nationals to claim the cost of treatment on their insurance.

Chandigarh is also well-suited to providing an ideal setting for patients to recuperate. It is generally regarded as the cleanest, greenest and most modern city in India having been designed from scratch by the French architect, Charles-Edouard Le Corbusier in the late 1940s.

It is also well-connected to Delhi with six daily 45-minute flights – or a three-hour journey by high-speed train which is proving a popular option among tourists, most of whom choose to visit Chandigarh independently.

As well as being the capital of the state of Haryana and the gateway city to the Himalayas, Chandigarh is capital of the neighbouring state of Punjab. It is also promoting itself as an events city and a centre for sports tourism.

Said Mr Atray: “We host at least one international cricket match every year and at least three ATP junior tennis events – which all tend to attract supporters from the participating countries.”