Chandigarh

Chandigarh was built as the new capital of Punjab following Partition. The Swiss-born architect, Le Corbusier, meant the city to be for the people and it's set up is very unique. The city is divided into a series of sectors that are numbered and often look the same. There are pedestrian plazas, wide tree-lined roads, public gardens, and an artificial lake. Le Corbusier's plan was to create low density, low rise housing divided into 1 square kilometre neighbourhood sectors, each self-contained with their own shops, schools, and places of worship.

Apart from the experimental and modern urban planning, the main reason that I went to Chandigarh was for the Nek Chand Fantasy Rock Garden. Nek Chand was a road inspector in Chandigarh who came from Pakistan after Partition. He had no formal education beyond high school. Chand was taken aback by the amount of garbage that was generated by the clearing of villages in the construction of Chandigarh and he began creating sculptures out of the garbage. Chand continued his work for about 15 years until a government survey crew stumbled upon them. The garden of recycled garbage structures was located on government land and should have been demolished but the government recognized the garden as a cultural asset. Chand was given 50 workers and paid a salary so he could devote himself to his work.

Today the garden is 25 acres and is a very popular attraction in the country. The entrance fee to this garden was very reasonable at the equivalent of 30 cents and all this money goes towards the maintenance and further development of the garden.