Rockstar Nek Chand remembered on 95th birth anniv

Chandigarh, December 15

The UT Administration and the Nek Chand Foundation, UK, celebrated his 95th birth anniversary at Rock Garden today. Arun Kumar Gupta, Home Secretary, paid floral tributes at the memorial to Nek Chand. A musical programme was organised by the Rock Garden Society for visitors. Nek Chand's son Anuj Saini felicitated a "self-taught artist" from Himachal Pradesh, Satya Bhushan, who single-handedly worked to make Nek Chand-like creations on his agriculture land in Chail.

Anuj also felicitated Nek Chand's close friends Mukhtiyar Singh Senkhon and Bahadur Singh, who helped him ferry big rocks from nearby areas to the Rock Garden.

Anuj said when Nek Chand did not have vehicles to transport these rocks to Rock Garden, they helped him without being noticed by the authorities. A comic book on Rock Garden by Tulika Singh for children was also released on the occasion. Besides, a film on Rock Garden by Nina Krstic, Director, Museum of Naive and Marginal Art, Jagodina (Serbia), was released and shown to the public.

Spread over 40 acres in Sector 1, Nek Chand's creation Rock Garden was officially opened on January 24, 1976. — TNS