Summer is here, and if you are bored of staying indoors or aimlessly pottering in malls to cheat the heat, we suggest a visit to the National Gallery of Modern Art located at Rajpath in the heart of New Delhi.

This is a museum that houses creations by old masters (Abanindranath Tagore, Gagenendranath Tagore, Nandalal Bose, Hussain, Raza, Souza) as well as holds exhibitions of contemporary artists (Anish Kapoor). The impressive Gothic building which was the erstwhile home of the Maharaja of Jaipur and the sprawling lawns dotted with pieces of sculpture make one forget the din of the city a few meters away.

This venue is a little known option for Delhites, although it almost always features in the lists followed by tourists. The different floors of the main museum are segregated by way of time. Further, they have a floor dedicated to classical Indian art – Tanjore painting, Mysore painting, Kangra miniatures and so on. They also have a cozy cafeteria providing simple food and beverages and an art store selling portfolios of famous painters as well as interesting stationery, ornaments and mugs with artwork printed on them.

In addition to the display of art, they frequently organize film shows that are open to the visitors. For upcoming shows, you may visit their website http://ngmaindia.gov.in/index.asp. They are closed on Mondays and other public holidays.

Given the ideal combination of natural light that pores in from various windows and the extremely powerful air conditioning, this is one place where one gets to experience summer without detesting it.
All in all, a thoroughly likeable experience and we would recommend this as a to-do for everyone.