| Hello there...I'm at a very special place today...it's full of rocks and there's lots of place to play... |
| It's called the Rock Garden of Chandigarh. The walls and the floors are full of broken china and I had so much fun locating different colours.... |
| It also has different niches for my folks to pose! |
| And lots of pillars made of 'matkas' (earthen pots) |
| This is Nek Chand Uncle. He started making this garden much before my folks were born too, so it's historic. In 1957, he started secretly building this garden on an area which is called a forest buffer near the Sukhna Lake in Chandigarh, everyday after his office hours! Nobody knew for at least 18 years...!! |
| When the government found out in 1975, they said it was illegal. But Nek Chand Uncle had already built about 12 acres of his art, full of courtyards, interlinking passages and landscaping, with happy looking animals, dancers and musicians made of waste-material, broken ceramic and pottery. |
| Everybody living in Chandigarh supported his art work and stopped the government from demolishing it. So in 1976, the government officially inaugurated the Rock Garden. Ever since then, it has been open to public and at least 5000 people from across the country visit the place everyday. Today, it spreads across 40 acres, built ONLY out of industrial and home-waste and thrown-away items. |
| Moma said she likes these sculptures which seem like human figures but are very abstract |
| And because it is in a forest area, the garden has different looking trees like this one which is full of spikes...it's called cactus. |
| Nek Chand uncle also built two large waterfalls in this garden. |
| And tiny mud houses on top of the hill. |
| I made sure i took my Superman with me to have fun... |
| When DC (Daddy Cool) was showing me how Superman can fly, he fell inside the pool |
| I started looking for my Superman in the muddy water but he swam across very fast and I couldn't find him |
| I was very sad but Moma said Superman will be happy swimming in the water! |
| I was very upset with DC, so he took me across the bridge into a large cave where we sat with some cool breeze coming from the waterfall. |
| It felt nice but I was still in no mood to pose for the camera |
| Moma showed me this view of the waterfall from underneath the bridge....it looked majestic. |
| Moma said every corner is an art work. This entire wall is made up of broken sink parts, i think., with a pebble sculpture standing in front of it. |
| I liked this brown wall full of broken pieces of earthen pots, except one white colour ceramic piece. |
| This courtyard reminded me of the snow I had seen in Gulmarg, except that all this is made of broken white china and not ice. |
| In the middle of all this, one of the visitors had a fan-moment when he recognized DC from his TV shows and wanted to click pictures with him. |
| While DC was busy meeting his fans, I was busy meeting these happy people made of broken plates. They were so kind and silent. |
| I went back to school and told my class teacher about this beautiful place because some of the walls there reminded me of my colouring books, full of fruits,animals and nature. |
| Every courtyard had something new. Birds, horses, camels, monkeys, dogs and people. |
| Nek Chand uncle made this courtyard with something different. Something that Moma wears in her hands, sometimes. Glass bangles....pieces of broken glass bangles put together for these sculptures. Nek Chand uncle passed away in June this year at the age of 91 but his garden continues to grow with more extensions under construction. I'm here at the large amphitheater area with long swings and food stalls. |
| I'm sure you also will love it when you come to Chandigarh. Have fun! |
