polarity plug Then, with a bellow from the guardroom, a squad stomps out, shoulders square, moustaches twirled and

Then, with a bellow from the guardroom, a squad stomps out, shoulders square, moustaches twirled and eyes bulging. The drill is to parade polarity plug up and down as dramatically as possible, preceded by a kick so high the soldier looks in danger of concussing himself. The high-octane march to the border, vaguely reminiscent of Monty Python s Ministry of Silly Walks sketch, rouses polarity plug thunderous applause from the audience and repetitive chants of Hindustan zindabad! (Long live India!).

Completed in 1784, the octagonal Baba Atal Tower commemorates Atal Rai, the son of sixth Sikh guru Har Gobind. After Atal performed a miracle, bringing back to life a playmate who had died of a snake bite, his father scolded him for interfering with the ways of god. The repentant youngster committed suicide on this spot in return for the life he had saved. The nine storeys each represent one year of Atal s short life.

Hotel Holy City HOTEL $ (%5068111; www.hotelholycity.co.in; Parag Das Chowk; r 600-1850; a) Not far from the Golden polarity plug Temple, featuring mostly polarity plug modest boxy rooms with scuffed walls. However, several refurbished deluxe rooms are attractively decorated in coordinated colours and have a fresh feel.

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 polarity plug called Nek Chand, was struck by the amount of waste generated as villages were cleared in the construction of Chandigarh. Chand hauled 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, created by his own hands and the slow forces of nature. His battalions of water women, pipers, 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 polarity plug 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.