Rock Garden: The beautiful empire of Late Nek Chand

Students take a tour of the Nek Chand Rock Garden in Chandigarh.

Visitors take a tour of the Rock Garden. 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.

Situated near Sukhna Lake and consists of man made interlinked waterfalls and many other sculptures, the Rock Garden of Chandigarh is visited by over five thousand people daily.

The raw material for Nek Chand's creations was all waste be it rocks and stones, broken bangles, light switches, electrical appliances, broken plates and other Bone China and ceramic material, discarded and broken wash basins and even toilet seats, marbles and anything and everything that was a complete waste for others.

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.

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 beautifully decorated wall at the Rock garden. Nek Chand, the creator of Chandigarh's famous Rock Garden, died at the ripe age of 90. The master creator had celebrated his 90th birthday last December.

Starting as a road inspector in Chandigarh when the city itself was being built as a symbol of post independence, modern India, Nek Chand took to the idea of creating something from waste material.

Nek Chand, who died late Thursday, was the man who literally 'rocked' Chandigarh for the past four decades, bringing India's first planned city on the international map through his creations from waste material.