Padam Shri Nek Chand, the man who built sculpture kingdom—Rock Garden—literally ‘rocked’ Chandigarh for the past four decades, bringing the country’s first planned city on the international map through his creation from waste material.
The creator of Chandigarh’s famous Rock Garden, died at the age of 90 on Friday. Working as a roads inspector with the Public Works Department in Punjab from 1951, Nek Chand had quietly built his magical kingdom clearing a little forest patch near the famous Sukhna lake to create a small garden.
When Chandigarh was getting designed by Swiss-born French architect le Corbusier, Nek Chand started working as road inspector and used to pedal on his bicycle in and around Chandigarh for many years, collecting all waste and rocks to later create things.
In early 1960s, Nek Chand started working on his sculpture kingdom—Rock Garden and his creative work gradually spread over several acres comprised of hundreds of sculptures.
It was only in the mid-70s that Nek Chand’s art was finally recognised and Chandigarh’s ‘Rock Garden’ came into being. The Rock Garden was officially inaugurated in October 1976.
Nek Chand developed the art of creating figures from waste material discarded by people and secretly set up his laboratory in a forested area in north Chandigarh. All kinds of waste material like broken bangles, cutlery, chinaware, electrical fittings like switches, plugs and tube-lights, marbles, tiles, household junk, stones, building material waste among other things had found their way into this creation.
Appreciators from across the world come to visit the modern wonder of the world with more than 5,000 people visiting the garden every day.
In 1980, Nek Chand was awarded the Grand Medal of Vermeil from Paris. The garden was pictured on an Indian postage stamp in the year 1983, and a year later, he was awarded with Padma Shri award.
He was also commissioned to create gardens elsewhere, notably the Fantasy Garden at the National Children’s Museum in Washington DC.
Nek Chand was the most exhibited Indian artist ever with his creations being part of leading cities like Paris, london, New York, Washington and Berlin, and numerous books in different languages being written about him. He had also been offered honorary citizenship in various countries.
For Nek Chand, creating his world of waste and rocks, was not always smooth. He faced official wrath in the initial years as well as in the late 80s when he wanted to expand the garden for newer creations.
The life journey of Rock Garden’s creator Nek Chand may have ended for now but his creation will stay for life and generations to come.