Nek Chand Rock Garden in Chandigarh, part 1

After his normal working day Chand worked at night, in total secrecy for fear of being discovered by the authorities. When they did discover Chand’s garden, local government officials were thrown into turmoil. The creation was completely illegal - a development in a forbidden area which by rights should be demolished. The outcome, however, was the enlightened decision to give Nek Chand a salary so that he could concentrate full-time on his work, plus a workforce of fifty labourers.

Nek Chand’s great work received immediate recognition and was inaugurated as The Rock Garden of Chandigarh.

Now over twenty five acres of several thousand sculptures set in large mosaic courtyards linked by walled paths and deep gorges, Nek Chand’s creation also combines huge buildings with a series of interlinking waterfalls. The Rock Garden is now acknowledged as one of the modern wonders of the world.

Coming out of the railway station, we see right away two groups of larger-than-life Nek Chand mosaic statues.

After the usual hassle of finding an acceptable taxi, we arrive at the Garden itself:

Now that we have some general info, we can finally start walking. The first area contains several open spaces, paths and (unfortunately dry at the moment) waterfalls. Each time there are small gates/doors that lead to another open area.

There is even a theater.

Wall made out of recycled sockets, topped of with recycled pottery.

Here you can see the recycled electrical supplies better.

Nature has done a good job, putting beautiful moss on many walls.

Nek Chand also created some really big pavilions.

Balustrades and railings are made out of curling plants/trees.

It is set up in a labyrinthic way, with narrow passages and little doors. Never knowing what you will find around the corner or through the door.

Going through THIS little door lead to the part of the gardens that I had come for. My jaw dropped, my heart made a jump and I thought I would go crazy from excitement!!!

But you will have to wait till tomorrow, to see what is at the other side of this door;-). Suspense!

Come back tomorrow and be awestruck!

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For those who like to read a bit more, here is an interesting article:

(Article by Anton Rajer.
This article originally appeared in The Folk Art Messenger, Volume 13, Number 1, Winter/Spring 2000)

Chandigarh, India, is an unlikely location for the world’s largest folk-art environment. Chandigarh, a stark 20th-century utopian dream city, was designed by the Swiss architect Le Corbusier. In the midst of this carefully planned, 1950s-style architecture lies a giant garden kingdom comprised of meandering paths, courtyards, waterfalls, pavilions, theaters, plazas and thousands of sculptures created by an untutored builder named Nek Chand Saini (b.1924). In the past few years, completing this monumental endeavor and guaranteeing its preservation has become an international effort involving many individuals and organizations.

In 1951, Nek Chand arrived in Chandigarh to work as a road inspector for the Indian government’s Public Works Department. In 1958, he began collecting curiously shaped rocks, discarded materials and recyclable items from the demolition of the villages that once stood on the site where Chandigarh was being built. Around 1965, working secretly at night and on weekends in a publicly owned forest reserve, Nek Chand assembled the materials, including rocks, broken crockery and colored stones, using concrete and a few primitive tools. He had carefully observed the techniques of using concrete in building the new city, particularly in the Government Center, then under construction. Nek Chand was fascinated by the plastic nature of concrete, and his creative impulse was stimulated by the building going on around him.

The place he chose for his exotic kingdom had been designated as a land conservancy, where any kind of building was forbidden. Nevertheless, there he built a miniature world depicting Indian village life, as well as a fantasy kingdom of palaces, pavilions and other structures.

More then fifteen years later city inspectors stumbled across this illegal construction in the forest. The Chandigarh bureaucracy wanted it destroyed. Nek Chand’s creation occupied government land that had been set aside as green space between the government buildings of Le Corbusier and the city proper. When word spread, hundreds of people found their way through the forests to see this enchanted kingdom. After much debate, the Chandigarh Landscape Advisory Committee relented and allowed Nek Chand to open his creation to the public.

After visiting the site and recognizing its artistic value, Dr. M.S. Randhawa, an agricultural scientist, gave the site the name Rock Garden. The Rock Garden was formally inaugurated on January 24, 1976, before a crowd of thousands. Thereafter, with a small budget and a group of helpers provided by the local government, Nek Chand was encouraged to enlarge his garden and continue his many projects.
Nek Chand set up a local network whereby broken crockery, tiles, rags and other discarded items could be brought to the garden for recycling.

The garden includes waterfalls, several plazas, a small theater, gardens, paths and nearly 5,000 pottery-encrusted concrete figures, some embellished with human hair which Nek Chand collected from barber shops.

In order to safeguard the sculpture and still make the pieces available for public viewing, Nek Chand placed them on high sloping terraces connected by pathways and divided by tile- embellished walls with narrow, low doorways. Most of the sculptures are smaller than life size and range in subject from human figures to monkeys, peacocks, elephants, bears and many imaginary creatures.

In another section of Phase II, Nek Chand created a miniature village with shops, houses, paths, temples and a cascading waterfall. This make-believe world is enhanced further by the trees, vegetation and birds that inhabit the remaining forest. Hundreds of birds live in the garden, using the small nooks and crannies as nesting places.

An important aesthetic feature of the garden is the sense of compression and expansion of space. In moving from one section of the garden to another, the visitor goes through narrow passageways and arrives into broad open courtyards ÷ an integral part of Nek Chand’s design.

Work continues on this section of the garden with additions to the inner boundary wall, more swings and a planned small museum. Nek Chand has not yet revealed all the details for what he says will be the most spectacular part of the Rock Garden. The elements of the garden appear to have been there many years, even though, for the most part, they are of recent construction.

As the size of the site has expanded, public interest and visitor volume have increased exponentially. International exhibitions of figures from the Rock Garden have been held in London, Berlin and Paris, where the Grande Medaille de Vermeil was conferred upon Nek Chand. In Washington, he created a sculpture garden at the Capitol Children’s Museum, and he was given the keys to the city of Baltimore. The postal service of India issued a Rock Garden stamp in 1983 to honor his work. In 1984, he was awarded the prestigious Indian award, Padam Shri, the equivalent of a British knighthood. He has received hundreds of awards, which he displays in a special room in his home.

Unfortunately, all has not gone well in this garden paradise. Some people, including local Indian bureaucrats, have expressed jealousy of the success of Nek Chand’s creation and the fact that he has been showered with attention. For example, the Bar Association of Chandigarh fought for years in the law courts to prevent expansion of the Rock Garden because it conflicted with their plans for a larger parking lot. But, in 1989, Nek Chand won a landmark court case in which the Rock Garden was given permanent protection that included green space buffers around the boundary wall.

In 1996, while Nek Chand was on a lecture tour of Europe and the United States, local officials did not prevent vandals from damaging hundreds of sculptures. This destruction halted the ongoing construction of Phase III. However, since this unfortunate incident, significant steps have been taken at local and international levels to guarantee that Nek Chand’s vision will be completed and preserved for future generations.

Today, Nek Chand is revered as a national hero. 4000-5000 people visit the garden daily, making it the most visited folk art site in the world and one of the most visited tourist sites in India.

In Chandigarh, the Rock Garden Society was organized to help administer and complete the garden.