The history of the Rock Garden is deeply intertwined with its creator, Nek Chand Saini, a roads inspector for the Public Works Department in Chandigarh. In 1957, Nek Chand secretly began clearing a small patch of jungle near Sukhna Lake—an area designated as a land buffer where construction was heavily restricted. Over the next 18 years, he collected waste materials from demolition sites around the city, quietly building a miniature kingdom of winding paths and sculptures under the cover of darkness and on weekends.
In 1975, city authorities finally discovered the site. By then, it had grown into a complex, 12-acre network of courtyards and art. Because it was built illegally on forest land, the garden faced immediate threats of demolition. However, the site had already begun attracting visitors, and immense public support swelled to save it.
Recognizing the garden's immense cultural and artistic value, the government officially inaugurated it as a public space in 1976. Nek Chand was given the title of Sub-Divisional Engineer, a salary, and a workforce of 50 laborers to allow him to work on the garden full-time. The site has since expanded to 40 acres and is continuously maintained and preserved as a heritage art site following Nek Chand's death in 2015.