The Rock Garden and how Nek Chand constructed it

Nek Chand Saini's 91st birth anniversary: The man who secretly constructed an entire garden

Creator of the world famous Rock Garden of Chandigarh, Nek Chand Saini, was born on December 15, 1924. The self-taught planner became famous for his 'Outsider Art' movement. He had to go through a lot of hardships to create the sculpture garden during the 1950s.

The garden is one of the most alluring man-made creations. But one should not be simply be fazed away by the beauty as Nek Chand had to face many obstacles while completing it.

On his 91st birth anniversary today, here is a short history of the Rock Garden and how Nek Chand constructed it:

• The Rock Garden is situated near Sukhna Lake at Chandigarh. Spread over an area of 40 acres, the garden is made up of industrial and urban waste material

• The garden consists of man-made interlined waterfalls and sculptures which have been built using scrap and throw-away items like bottles, glasses, frames, mudguards, metal wires, porcelain, play marbles, bangles, tiles, etc

• Chandigarh was being redesigned by the Swiss architect, Le Corbusier and Chand found work there as a road inspector for the Public Works Department (PWD)

• He envisioned the kingdom of Sukrani which was his inspiration behind the garden, so in his spare time, he started collecting waste material from the ruined sites and chose a gorge in a forest near the Sukhmani Lake

• Chand secretly started building the garden and couldn't hide it further until 1975, when authorities found it. By this time, he had already created a 12 acre land consisting of dancers, musicians and animals made up of clay and other times

• The garden was almost on the verge of destruction but Chand gained public favour. The municipal authorities then decided to provide him financial support and labour force to enable him to continue working

• In 1996, the city withdrew its funding and vandals attacked the Rock Garden in order to destroy it, when Nek Chand was away for a lecture tour

• His statues have also found a place in Capitol Children's Museum in Washington D.C and the American Folk Art Museum in New York City

• The site was officially recognised in January 24, 1976 as the Rock Garden and is now a key tourist attraction not only in India but, internationally. The garden has thousands of visitors every day

• He was conferred with the Padma Shri in 1984

• Nek Chand popularised the term 'Outsider Art' in India which means raw art or self-taught art where the artist has no formal art training from any institution or has no connection with mainstream art world.