Chandigarh - Nek Chand Rock Garden

By far the biggest tourist (and local) attraction in Chandigarh is the Nek Chand Rock Garden. (They claim that with an average of 5,000 visitors a day, it is the second-most visited site in India, after the Taj Mahal. I couldn't verify that claim. The fact that 5,000 visitors a day is considered huge tells you something about tourism in India.) The garden alone is worth the trip to Chandigarh.

The 18 acre site is the masterpiece of Nek Chand, a highway department employee who over 60 years has created an eclectic fantasy sculpture garden from cast-offs, mostly demolition/construction debris. For the first 20 years, it was hidden in the woods behind his office, and was definitely unauthorized. Fortunately, when it was discovered, his superiors were taken with the project, and did not destroy it. There have been several subsequent attempts to close/eliminate it, but support from around the globe has kept it open. It is now officially run by a foundation with mostly volunteer labor. Nek Chand turned 90 in December 2014. You can find out more about the garden at www.nekchand.com.

The garden tour follows a labyrinthine path with surprises at every bend. At times the path is a very narrow canyon. At other times, it's a fairly broad street. At all times it is captivating.

The garden must be amazing in monsoon! All the water on site is rainwater-harvested and continuously recirculated through the waterfalls.

There are many small doorways to go through. The stated goal was to make you feel humble to enter the site. The effect, though, is to make it seem like you are in a children's dream fantasy castle. At times, like this one, the doors are so small that you think you are approaching a dead end because the people in front of you totally block your view of the passageway.

The landscape is mostly "interactive" -- you are invited to climb and explore. In only a few spots (mostly near water) are visitors prohibited from leaving the path. (And a few other places have fences to keep sculptural pieces from being vandalized.)

Many trees were left in place. Some of the roots became sculptures. Other "roots" really are concrete sculptures!

I think these small houses look like Hobbit homes.

In some places, the structures resemble medieval castles.

More castle-style architecture.

Ceramic electrical parts are embedded in walls.

Many of the large ceramic tiles are actually cast-off bathroom fixtures. In fact, the largest collection of Nek Chand art outside India is in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, in the Kohler Arts Center. (That's Kohler, as in Kohler plumbing fixtures. The Kohler family, through the Kohler Foundation, is a huge patron of the arts in Wisconsin.)

More interactive playfulness in Phase III -- huge swings available for anyone to use.

The project started with figures made of ceramic debris, terra cotta, rocks, and cement. This is just one of the many displays of thousand of such figures -- humanoid and animal.

Possibly the most famous figures in the garden -- made out of broken glass bangles.

These were probably my favorite set of figures. Their simplistic elegance "spoke" to me.

This is just a sampling of the over 200 photos I took here. It was difficult selecting just a few! I've posted a larger collection on Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/srollinson/