Four-day festival in memory of Nek Chand kicks off

Aarti Kapur

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 12

“It was a coincidence that work on the sculpture of the legendary Nek Chand, which was inaugurated today in his memory, was started at his own workshop in the Rock Garden 10 days before his death,” said one of the members of the team who created the sculpture, Gagandeep.

On the 91st birth anniversary of late Nek Chand, the sculpture made of wax and fibre, was unveiled by UT Adviser Vijay Dev at the Nek Chand’s office in the Rock Garden here today. A four-day festival was also inaugurated in the memory of the creator and director of the garden.

Gagandeep said their team comprised four members and was headed by Gurpreet Singh Dhuri. All members have passed out from the Chandigarh College of Arts. “Our dream was fulfilled when we succeeded in putting Nek Chand’s sculpture created by us in the Rock Garden. But we were disappointment as he was not among us to see our work,” said Gagandeep.

It was a day of expressing thanks to Nek Chand to make City Beautiful famous on the global map. The UT Adviser, after unveiling the sculpture, sang a song of Shiv Kumar Batalvi — ‘Koi yaad tenu kerega’, which made the atmosphere emotional.

The UT Home Secretary, Anurag Agarwal, said the priority of the administration was to complete the pending construction work after the death of Nek Chand. He said the administration had also decided to install permanent lights at the Rock Garden to promote night tourism in the city. A waste art workshop was also organised on this occasion by Anuj Saini. Various cultural events will be held at the garden in the next three days.