In Chandigarh, there is a truly unique garden – the Rock Garden. And it is not a typically oriental garden filled with silence and conceptually positioned stones. No. It is a special place, designed by one single person who aimed to demonstrate that something beautiful can be created even out of scrap.

Nek Chand, who later created a garden for the Capitol Children’s Museum, had a very uncommon secret hobby to which he devoted his leisure time. He created sculptures and small structures from... waste. Everything he could lay his hands on – stones, broken ceramics, glass, plastic – he turned into small but incredibly beautiful works of art. For more than 18 years he continued his work, hiding his art from everybody’s eyes. But the sculptures had to be stored somewhere, and he put them in a park.

In 1973, the municipal authorities noticed this unauthorized improvised exhibition. Firstly, they didn’t quite like it. However later, having considered pros and cons, they decided not to demolish the exhibits. On the contrary, they even supported the artist: they granted him more land, offered him 50 employees, and even assigned Nek Chand a salary for creating and keeping a new city park. And in 1975, the Rock Garden invited its first guests.

Gradually, a small exhibition of an extraordinary artist grew into a huge and beautiful park. Now, there are not only sculptures and art objects of scrap but a few museums, lovely fountains and exotic waterfalls, children’s playgrounds.

It was a truly unique spot that had no comparable counterparts for a long time until similar parks under Nek Chand’s brand didn’t appear in other cities and countries. Now, it is a special movement that shows how much waste people produce and how it can be recycled and turned into art objects and landscape parks, new urban jewels and legacies, instead of being thrown away in nature.