Read the text about the Rock Garden of Chandigarh.

While Nek Chand was growing up in India in the 1920s, he built forts and castles from objects he found around his village. He sculpted rock and clay figures to live in the buildings, too. Years later, Chand used his experience with building things out of unlikely materials to make his own city.

Starting in the 1950s, Chand worked as a road inspector. He began collecting rubble, such as broken pottery, rags and tiles. To others, this was useless rubbish. To Chand, these were free materials he could use to create the city of his dreams. By the mid-1960s, with just a few simple tools, Chand used his rubble and concrete to create all sorts of buildings and figures. He secretly constructed his city at night in a secluded forest that belonged to the government. He did not want his creation to be discovered.

Chand’s city grew bigger over time. He set up centres to collect larger amounts of rubbish from places across the city, such as hotels, restaurants and hospitals. He turned the rubbish into sculptures of dancing women, monkeys, musicians and more. Most of his figures are smaller than in real life. Some of the human sculptures have real hair that Chand collected from barber shops! He also made courtyards, waterfalls and huge swings.

When Chand’s city was finally discovered, people were amazed at his creativity and clever use of materials. In 1976, the city was officially recognised as a work of art and named the Rock Garden of Chandigarh. Today, it is a ten-hectare park with winding paths that lead to shopping centres and theatres. That’s bigger than twenty football pitches! India considers the garden a national treasure. The Rock Garden of Chandigarh still attracts over five thousand visitors from around the world who come to enjoy Chand’s magical creation every day.