Air Force Museum

This spectacular museum lies at the Palam Air Force Station and displays a fine and dynamic collection of armoury and aeroplanes, which reflect the glorious history of the Indian Air Force. The museum is a tribute to the great achievements of India’s flying force, and eloquently highlights its role in peace-keeping.

Air Force Museum

Red Fort Archaeological Museum

Located inside the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Red Fort, this museum is dedicated to Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar. It houses many relics dating back to the Mughal period, including paintings, calligraphy, artefacts, costumes and textiles. The major attractions are weapons and a map of the war of Independence of 1857. Other visual treats include the king’s silver smoking pipe (hookah), silk robes seeded with pearls, textiles from the 19th century and beautiful blue tiles from the 13th century. Red Fort Archaeological Museum lies inside Mumtaz Mahal, in Red Fort.

Red Fort Archaeological Museum

National Science Centre Museum

An impressive science centre that aims to educate visitors about the wonders of science, National Science Centre Museum is a must-visit in Delhi. The working science exhibitions of the museum are amazing attractions. Tourists can also find interesting displays in various sections for all age groups. These exhibit hands-on displays that show various laws of physics. National Science Centre Museum was established in 1992 and is a part of National Council of Science Museums (NCSM), an autonomous body under the Ministry of Culture.

National Science Centre Museum

National Police Museum

This interesting museum houses exhibits collected from Central Police Forces of India, State Police Forces and police of foreign countries. Some of the popular items displayed are weapons, forged documents, images, counterfeiter equipment etc. The museum also highlights the police’s abilities to solve crime and arrest criminals. You can find exhibits of modern and old techniques used by Forensic Science Laboratories, Finger Print Bureau of Centre and States and Police Forces all over the world. The museum was set up in 1991.

National Police Museum

Nehru Memorial Museum and Library

Set up in the memory of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, the Nehru Memorial Museum houses displays of Nehru’s old office that has been recreated using the same artefacts and furniture. The library has a large number of books that trace the history of modern India. Another attraction is the Nehru Planetarium that attracts tourists from all over the area. You can catch interesting shows and presentations in the sky theatre of the planetarium.

Nehru Memorial Museum and Library

Lodhi Art District

Street murals of a flute seller standing by the roadside, a sardarji sitting behind a pile of books and reading his newspaper, a cow staring indolently in space and a shopkeeper serving sweets to her customers, and many others, greet you at Lodhi Art District, located in Lodhi Colony. A nondescript neighbourhood that saw a stunning transformation, the art district is a living canvas that brings to life stories from around you. The whitewashed walls along the streets have become canvasses for artists from India and across the world, who have turned the area into India’s first public art district.

Lodhi Art District

Shankars International Dolls Museum

A unique place to study the cultures and traditions of various countries in the world, the Doll Museum leaves one in awe. It houses around 6,500 dolls from over 80 countries. The entire collection is divided into two parts - one part consists of dolls from Western countries like the USA and the UK, and the other from Asian countries, Africa and the Middle East. A highlight is Indian costume dolls that are of 150 types. These include dolls dressed as Kathakali as well. The museum was set up by K Shankar Pillai, a political cartoonist.

Shankars International Dolls Museum

National Handicrafts and Handlooms Museum

This museum holds about 35,000 distinctive and rare art pieces that reflect the traditions and skills of Indian craftsmen through textiles, embroidery, paintings and crafts of wood, stone and clay. There are many galleries inside the museum: Tribal and Rural Craft Gallery, Gallery of Popular Culture, Textile Gallery, Gallery of Courtly Crafts. A particular attraction is a village complex that is spread over an area of 5 acre. There are about 15 structures representing village life on display, along with shrines and courtyards from different parts of India. Tourists can also attend a folk art or dance performance. Other interesting features of the museum are a 300-year-old Bhoota collection from the state of Karnataka, handkerchiefs of Chamba with unique embroideries and 300-year-old rare Kashmiri dushalas (shawls).

National Handicrafts and Handlooms Museum

National Rail Museum

A testament to India’s rail heritage, National Rail Museum boasts spectacular exhibits both indoors and outdoors. A toy train inside the museum allows visitors to explore the museum comprehensively. Some of the popular displays are 100 life-size exhibits of the railways, working and static models, antique furniture, historical photographs and signaling equipment.

National Rail Museum

National Museum

The National Museum boasts a fine collection of artefacts and precious objects that cover more than 5,000 years of Indian cultural heritage. It exhibits about 2,00,000 works of both Indian and foreign art. The library of the museum is a goldmine for researchers as it contains books and journals related to various fields such as anthropology, archaeology, conservation, decorative arts, history, literature, museum studies, painting, philosophy and religion for research and reference. The library contains over 60,000 volumes of books, journals and several Indian and International journals and magazines. The museum was inaugurated on August 15, 1949 by Shri RC Rajagopalachari, the then governor-general of India. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of the country, laid the foundation stone of the present building on May 12, 1955. The first phase of the building was formally inaugurated by Dr S Radhakrishnan on December 18, 1960 and the second phase was completed in 1989.

National Museum