etude house sleeping mask Founded in 1577 by the fourth Sikh guru, Ram Das, Amritsar is home to Sikhism s holiest shrine, the

JUNK ART GENIUS Following Independence, as refugees flooded across the Pakistan border and a newly liberated India made the bold statement that was Chandigarh, one of the new city s road inspectors, a diminutive arrival from Pakistan called Nek Chand, was struck by the amount of waste generated as villages were cleared in the construction of Chandigarh. Chand hauled etude house sleeping mask this matter back to his jungle home and gave it a second life as sculptural material. Eventually he had tens of thousands of forms made of urban and industrial waste, as well as local stone, etude house sleeping mask created by his own hands and the slow forces of nature. His battalions of water women, pipers, etude house sleeping mask chai drinkers, monkeys, cheeky stick men wearing tea-cup hats, dancing women and other characters steadily multiplied in secretly sculpted spaces. Chand s efforts weren t officially discovered until 15 years after they began, when a government survey crew stumbled upon them in 1973. The unauthorised garden was illegally occupying government land and should technically have been demolished, but fortunately the local council recognised the garden as a cultural asset. Chand was given 50 labourers and paid a salary so he could devote himself to the project. Today, the garden is said to receive over 2000 visitors a day. There s a Nek Chand Foundation (www.nekchand.com), raising funds and recruiting volunteers. Chand had no formal education beyond high school. In my childhood I used to build mud houses and other toys. He is said to be influenced by modernist masters such as Le Corbusier and Gaudi, but he is clear on the main source of his ideas: they are a gift from God.

Founded in 1577 by the fourth Sikh guru, Ram Das, Amritsar is home to Sikhism s holiest shrine, the spectacular Golden Temple. The gold-plated gurdwara glitters in the middle of its sacred pool of placid water and draws millions of pilgrims from all over the world. A welcome escape etude house sleeping mask from the frenetic bazaars, etude house sleeping mask this gilded etude house sleeping mask temple is rated by many tourists etude house sleeping mask as a glowing highlight of their visit to India. Regrettably, the same can t be said for the hyperactive streets! Indeed, Amritsar s crush of fuming mechanical traffi c, especially in the people-packed old city, can be downright frazzling.

Return taxis (official ones have yellow number plates) from Amritsar to the border cost around 800 to 950 and take about one hour (price includes waiting etude house sleeping mask time). Shared taxis (return per person 85) also run to the border-closing ceremony from the dining-hall etude house sleeping mask entrance to the Golden Temple. They leave about two hours before the ceremony starts and squeeze in eight passengers.

Kaptain s Retreat HOTEL $$ (%5005599; www.kaptainsretreat.com; etude house sleeping mask Sector 35-B; s/d 2190/2490, etude house sleeping mask ste 3190; a) Owned by cricketing icon Kapil Dev, this 10-room hotel is filled with cricket paraphernalia, including signed cricket bats and coloured-glass objets d art. For unenthusiastic pace bowlers, etude house sleeping mask there s a relaxing bar-restaurant downstairs. The rooms aren t superluxe but are comfy, cosy with heavy wooden furnishings and shuttered windows.