Nek Chand, the creator of Rock Garden in Chandigarh was taken for a surprise when his supports organized a grand celebration on the occasion of his 90th birthday at Rock Garden. Top serving officials of Chandigarh Administration along with retired personal who were serving in various departments of Chandigarh government in the past thronged the venue. His family and friends were also present to mark this occasion.
Chandigarh administration had planned Nek Chand’s 90th birthday to be a big event and we must say that it went even bigger than the plan. There were special performances by theatre artists on the stage which enthralled the audience. Music, dance, joy and enjoyment was all around in the third phase of the Rock Garden where a large number of people gathered to celebrate the 90th birthday of Chandigarh’s legend – Mr. Nek Chand.
Mr. Rupan Deol Bajaj (Retired IAS officer), Justice Ajay Tiwari (Punjab & Haryana High Court), S Y Quraishi (Chief Election Commissioner of India), T N Chaturvedi (Former Chief Commissioner of UT) along with Chandigarh advisor were present at the occasion and talked about how Nek Chand did this great job of creating the Rock Garden.
A large cake weighing 90 Kg was cut by Padam Nek Chand on the occasion of his 90th birthday. Mr. A S Aulakh, who wrote the first book on Rock Garden, presented his book to Nek Chand. Alen Cesarano (UK) who is a member of the Rock Garden Foundation Society, gifted him a map of Rock Garden taken by satellite images.
Rock Garden was officially inaugurated on 24 January, 1976 and has completed 38 years of its presence. According to the reports, more than 2.5 lakh people visit the Rock Garden every year and a revenue of Rs. 1.8 crore per annum is collected from the ticket sales. The garden is maintained by Nek Chand Foundation which has members from across the globe.
Source = Chandigarh Tribune dated 16th December.
Official Website of Nek Chand = www.nekchand.com
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