ultimele noutati din romania JUNK ART GENIUS Following Independence, as refugees flooded across the Pakistan border and a newly l

Hotel Ritz Plaza HOTEL $$ (%2562836; www.ritzhotel.in; 45 The Mall; s/d incl breakfast 3500/4700, ste 5700; ais) Particularly popular with business travellers and tour groups, the well-furnished rooms (either marble or timber flooring) come with TV, tea-and-coffee-making facilities, sofas and minibars. Standard rooms vary so check a few. On-site is a relaxing bar, round-theclock cafe and multicuisine restaurant.

Kishan Haveli (%01887-232650; Academy Rd; r 600-1000; a) is set in spacious grounds and has an uncommercial, ramshackle charm. This mellow countryside retreat, around 1.5km from town, has comfortable rooms and a simple restaurant (meals 80).

JUNK ART GENIUS Following Independence, as refugees flooded across the Pakistan border and a newly liberated India made the bold statement that was Chandigarh, ultimele noutati din romania 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. ultimele noutati din romania 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 ultimele noutati din romania 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. ultimele noutati din romania 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.

Don t let the facade put you off. This mid- ranger is a welcome retreat from the bustle of Lawrence Rd, with contemporary rooms that have either marble or carpeted fl oors. It will pay to check rooms for road noise and thin mattresses. Multicuisine restaurant.