New Delhi: Art, Craft and Handicraft Tour

Where the craft is actually made, and where it is shown

A day for people who would rather see things being made than see another tomb. It moves between the institutions that collect Indian craft and the districts where it is produced.

The National Crafts Museum

The anchor of the tour, at Pragati Maidan, and one of the most underrated museums in India.

It holds village architecture rebuilt in the grounds, tribal and folk art, textiles, terracotta and metalwork from every state — and, crucially, a working courtyard where weavers, potters, block printers and embroiderers sit at their craft and sell directly. Buying from the person who made a thing is rare anywhere and normal here.

Café Lota, inside the museum grounds, is where the tour usually starts: an open-air café doing regional Indian food properly, which is worth the stop on its own.

The Lodhi Art District

India's first open-air public art district — the walls of a 1940s government housing colony painted floor to roofline by artists from a couple of dozen countries. More than fifty murals across a few blocks, and they change as new work goes up.

Galleries and studios

Depending on the day: the contemporary galleries around Lado Sarai, the designer courtyards of Shahpur Jat behind their unmarked doors, and Kumhar Gram if pottery interests you — a village of several hundred potter families inside the city.

Dilli Haat

Crafts from every state in one place, with stalls rotating so the makers change every fortnight. Good for buying, and the prices are fixed, which is restful.

Practical

Four and a half hours with private transport and a guide.

Entry fees are small and paid at the door. The Crafts Museum is closed on Mondays.

Whatever you buy is yours; nothing is included and your guide takes no commission.