The Rock Garden of Chandigarh

It took years of planning together with millions of Rupees to pattern ane of India’s outset planned cities , simply Chandigarh's biggest tourist attraction was non on the brain excogitation of Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier. It was the production of creative imagination together with l years of labor past times a humble authorities official Nek Chand.

Nek Chand was a route inspector inwards the Engineering Department of Chandigarh Capital Project , inwards 1957 , the yr he started working on his hole-and-corner sculptural project. Nek Chand would wheel to a gorge nigh Sukhna Lake , at the foothills of Shivalik hills , that was used equally dumping soil for urban together with industrial waste matter , together with pass hours collecting discarded pieces of broken pottery , bottles , auto parts , plumbing materials , street lights , electrical fittings , broken sanitary ware together with and thus on. He would comport the pieces to a nearby PWD (Public Works Department) warehouse together with fashion them into artistic forms resembling humans together with animals.

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Photo credit: Kirk Kittell/Flickr

Nek Chand worked at nighttime because he was afraid of beingness discovered. For 18 years , he kept it this site a secret. By the fourth dimension it was discovered , it had grown into a 12-acre complex of interlinked courtyards , each filled amongst hundreds of pottery-covered concrete sculptures of dancers , musicians , together with animals. The Rock Garden , equally it is called instantly , mesmerizes everyone who sees it. Today it is spread over an expanse of twoscore acres , together with is completely built out of trash.

At ane indicate , shortly afterwards its uncovering , the authorities wanted to demolish the common because Nek Chand didn’t convey permission to construct it , simply the populace intervened. In 1976 the common was officially inaugurated equally a populace space. Nek Chand was given a salary , a championship ("Sub-Divisional Engineer , Rock Garden") , together with 50 laborers together with thus that he could concentrate full-time on his work.

In recognition of his run , Nek Chand was awarded the Padma Shri , the quaternary highest civilian respect inwards India. The Rock Garden also appeared on an Indian postage inwards 1983.

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