Rock Garden of Chandrigarh

The rock garden of Chandrigarh is cool enough to justify its own post. So far on the trip it has hands-down been the best “tourist spot” I’ve seen, which was a total surprise for me at the time because I went there expecting very little. It was started by a municipal road worker who covertly collected broken pottery and found objects, turning them at night into little himanoid figurines and other prices of art. He’d been doing this for a decade or so when his secret collection was discovered in the late 70’s and people were so impressed by it that they decided to pay him to continue, building up a rock garden around his work.
The garden, which is mainly a series of artificial canyons and trails through which you wend your way is an excellent exercise in controlling perspective. Basically, you begin to see parts of a scene as you round a corner or glimpse it through a hole in the wall, then your understanding changes as your move through or around what you see. The whole things is a series of exposed discoveries and hidden It is very cool and is one of the few truly impressive works of modern art I’ve encountered anywhere.

These pictures don’t really do the experience justice, but I’ve posted some so you get a flavor.