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Nek Chand was born in 1924 at Berian Kalan (56 miles north of Lahore). It was originally part of India and because of its partition in 1947, is now part of Pakistan. In 1951, he settled with his wife, Kamla, in Chandigarh, the newly constructed capital of the State of Punjabi and Haryani, located north of Delhi.
Nek Chand was hired as a road inspector by the Department of Public Works in 1951, and in 1958, he chose a sector that he knew would not be visited or developed to begin work on the sculptures. He quietly and secretly built sculptures using "found" objects that he collected from around the city that he would break into small pieces and set into concrete mortar sculpted over construction material armatures. That process continues to this day.
He called it the kingdom of gods and godesses and he hid the sculptures and other creations for 17 years (1975) before it was discoverd by Chandigarh authorities. Following a public outpouring of support, city leaders agreed to establish the garden as a public space and the name is changed to the Rock Garden.The government officially re-opened the site in 1977 and made Nek Chand its creative director to coordinate and direct all future work.
In 1980, Nek Chand was awarded the internation Grande Medaille De Vermeil in Paris and received the honorary title Padma Shri from the Indian President, Gyani Zail Singh. Today, Nek Chand is still active on site at the garden to direct construction of new areas and to interact with visitors and officials on behalf of the garden.
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