The Rock Garden of Chandigarh 昌迪加尔的岩石公园

In Chandigarh, a city in northeast India, there is an amazing garden. There are tall rocks and small paths between them. There are waterfalls, pools, and hundreds of sculptures. The sculptures are surprising because they are all made from rubbish, like plastic jewellery, bottles, broken pots, sinks, toilets, and pieces of electrical equipment.

The garden has a surprising history too because it was built in secret! A man called Nek Chand started building the garden in 1957. He chose some land in a forest near the city, where there were rocks and a river. Nobody was allowed to build here, so Nek knew that people wouldn’t see him there. Then he started to collect rubbish and make the sculptures.

Nek’s project was illegal, but for 18 years, nobody found it. However, in 1975, some government officials discovered it. By that time, the garden was nearly 49,000m2 in size. The government tried to destroy the garden, but when the people in the city heard about it, they wanted to keep it.

In 1976 it became a public park. After that, Nek Chand received a salary so that he could work in the garden full-time, and fifty more people were employed to work there with him. People paid to visit the garden. Nek put collection centres around the town so that he could make more recycled sculptures.

However, the garden wasn’t safe yet. In 1990, the local government tried to build a road through the park, just for VIPs. But local people protested, and their plan failed. Later, Nek became famous. He travelled to the USA to tell people about his garden. But when he returned, his garden was destroyed! It took a long time to rebuild it and keep it safe.

Now, a charity manages the garden. Five thousand visitors visit this special place each day. Volunteers, workers, and local children still work here. They keep the garden clean and learn to make sculptures. If you like, you can volunteer here too!