The Capitol Complex is the great civic stage of Le Corbusier's Chandigarh, a triangle of monumental concrete buildings — the High Court, the Secretariat and the Palace of Assembly — arranged around a vast open plaza at the northern edge of the city. Inscribed by UNESCO in 2016 as part of a transnational listing of Le Corbusier's work, the complex is one of the most important pieces of 20th-century architecture in Asia.
The scale is deliberately overwhelming. Reflecting pools, sculptural pylons and a giant ceremonial ramp punctuate the empty plaza, and the buildings themselves are raw concrete punched with deep brise-soleil shading. The whole composition turns its back on the Shivalik Hills and faces the city, a built statement that India's new democracy is monumental and modern. Visits are by guided tour only, departing from the tourist office near the Open Hand. Bring your passport — security is heavy because the buildings are still in active use as the seats of two state governments.