Delhi Tourism

Music in Delhi

Delhi’s concert halls tend to be busy more or less year round, with the Delhi Symphony Orchestra performing at the Kamani Auditorium, Copernicus Marg (tel: (011) 338 8084) and the FICCI Auditorium, Tansen Marg (tel: (011) 335 7369).

Hindustani music is by far the most popular, closely followed by Karnatic music. Some of Delhi’s open-air venues, such as the majestically lit Qutb Minar (see Key Attractions), provide a dramatic backdrop for select performances. The Delhi Music Society (tel: (011) 611 5331) is based at Nayaya Marg, Chanakyapuri.

Theatres in Delhi

Delhi is well provided with innovative theatres and the area just to the north of India Gate is home to a number of these, including the Kamani Theatre (tel: (011) 338 8084), on Copernicus Marg. The Abhimanch, Bahawalpur House (tel: (011) 338 9402), stages an exciting program of theatre, dance and films through the year.

Dance in Delhi

Lovers of dance are well catered for in Delhi, seeing as a rich mix of classical – including Kathak, Bharatnatyam and Kathakali – folk and tribal dance, as well as ballet is performed at various auditoria throughout the year.

Hauz Khas, Delhi-Mehrauli Road, is a good spot to join well-heeled Delhiites, as they sit back over a meal or a drink while taking in an open-air dance or music performance. The India International Center, 40 Lodhi Estate (tel: (011) 461 9431), and Triveni Theatre, 205 Tansen Marg (tel: (011) 371 8833), are both popular venues for regular, professional dance shows.

Film in Delhi

Cinema is by far the most popular form of entertainment in India – it has been suggested that 23 million Indians watch a film every day. The glitzy love stories and action movies of Bollywood attract huge audiences and their stars are national figures. There is a number of cinemas in Delhi, some showing only films in Hindi, some only in English and some in both languages. English-language films are shown, among many others, at the Ritz, Kasmiri Gate, and the Chanakya, Chanakapuri.

The movie that is closest to Delhi’s beating heart is the immensely popular Monsoon Wedding (2001), which was set in the city. The busy marketplaces of Delhi punctuated director Mira Nair’s beautiful celluloid weaving of character, place and drama.

National Gallery of Modern Art in Delhi

The National Gallery of Modern Art contains a large collection of 20th-century Indian art. There are examples of the work of the painters of the Bengali Renaissance and of the poet and artist, Tagore.

The highlight is the room devoted to the pictures of female Indian artist Amrita Sher-Gil (1913-1941), whose portraits – more successful than her genre scenes – are painted with the confident bravura of the youthful Augustus John.

The galleries recently have been reorganized to accommodate a program of biannual exhibitions designed to bring a larger proportion of the 15,000-piece collection before the public. The museum is in Jaipur House – by any yardstick, a grandee’s townhouse – formerly the Delhi residence of the Maharaja of Jaipur.