National Gallery of Modern Art Museum

Address: Jaipur House, India Gate, New Delhi 110003, India

Website: https://ngmaindia.gov.in/

Hours: Tue-Sun 10:30am-5:00pm, closed Mondays

Admission: Free general entry; special exhibitions may charge. (Official site lists ticketing for temporary shows)

The National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi is India’s national museum for modern and contemporary visual arts, located in the historic Jaipur House near India Gate. It was established by the Government of India in the mid-20th century to collect and exhibit modern Indian art.

Gallery highlights cover 19th- and 20th-century Indian painting, sculpture and works on paper by major Indian artists, alongside rotating exhibitions of contemporary practice. The site also includes a sculpture lawn and spaces for temporary displays and educational programmes.

The gallery was created to gather, preserve and display works charting India’s modern artistic development and has expanded its collections and public programmes since opening. The building itself is a repurposed royal residence adapted to gallery use.

Situated on central Delhi’s cultural axis near the India Gate and other national institutions, the museum is within walking distance of central government buildings and is accessible by city transport.

• Founding and building: Established in the mid-20th century as India’s national institution for modern visual arts and housed in the former Jaipur House near India Gate.
• Visiting tip: Good times to visit are weekdays outside school holidays when galleries are less crowded and guided tours or talks are sometimes offered by the museum.

What to See#

• Jaipur House (building): The historic Jaipur House building that houses the New Delhi campus, notable for its circular layout and central rotunda designed as a former royal residence.
• Permanent collection galleries: Gallery spaces showing the museum’s permanent holdings of modern and contemporary Indian art across painting, sculpture and works on paper.
• Sculpture lawn and temporary galleries: A landscaped sculpture lawn and temporary exhibition spaces used for rotating shows and public programmes.

Ngma is on the eastern side of India Gate in central New Delhi. The nearest Delhi Metro access is Central Secretariat station (about a 12-20 minute walk) or Khan Market (slightly farther). Auto-rickshaws and cycle rickshaws regularly ply the area; on-foot approach from India Gate takes only a few minutes.

• Enter via the India Gate/Jai Singh Road side and avoid crowding around the central rotunda at midday when school groups gather.
• Check the NGMA website before visiting - temporary exhibitions and restorations can change galleries and entry rules.
• Inspect the building itself: Jaipur House (the gallery's home) was built in 1936 and has its own carved marble details often overlooked by visitors focused on paintings.
• Ask at the information desk for the audio guide or printed floor plan-gallery numbering is not always obvious.