egypt electricity plug JUNK ART GENIUS Following Independence, as refugees flooded across the Pakistan border and a newly l

People come to the border, 30km west of Amritsar, for two reasons: to enjoy the late afternoon border-closing ceremony (see the boxed text, p 221 ) or to use the crossing between India and Pakistan (see the boxed text, p 220 ).

JUNK ART GENIUS Following Independence, as refugees flooded across the Pakistan border and a newly liberated India made the bold statement that was Chandigarh, egypt electricity plug 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 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 egypt electricity plug 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 egypt electricity plug such as Le Corbusier and Gaudi, but he is clear on the main source of his ideas: they are a gift from God.

Government Museum egypt electricity plug & Art Gallery ART GALLERY (%2740261; Sector 10-C; admission 10,; h10am4.30pm Tue-Sun, free guided tours 11am & 3pm Tue- Sun, films 11am & 3pm Sun) This gallery has a sizeable collection, including phulkari (embroidery egypt electricity plug work) wraps made by Punjabi village women, metal work, Indian miniature paintings, contemporary art and Gandhara

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 time). Shared taxis (return per person 85) also run to the border-closing ceremony from the dining-hall entrance to the Golden Temple. They leave about two hours before the ceremony starts and squeeze in eight passengers.