Located at 1, C. V. Mess in Janpath in New Delhi, ‘The Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts’ Museum or IGNCA in short was established and inaugurated on 19th November 1987 by Late Shri Rajiv Gandhi, a former Prime Minister of India and reachable by local transport and Metro Rail with Patel Chowk being the nearest metro station. It is dedicated to Late Smt. Indira Gandhi also a former Prime Minister of India who had greatly believed in preserving and sharing Information with the world about the variant Indian Arts and Culture and hence this museum does exactly that. This autonomous centre supervised by the Ministry of Culture collates all forms of art and culture ranging from folklore, cosmology and archaeology to performing arts like acting, dancing, and singing under one roof. It also deals with research along with attaining educational and Intellectual knowledge of Indian arts and its culture.

Smt. Late Indira Gandhi always felt the need to respect and embed Cultural values and Traditional attributes in all Human as it is an extremely essential part of our very being that is required in our daily lives both personally and professionally. They are available in creative and critical form in three formats which are visual being depicted through animation with audio and video graphics via a computer, verbal through exhibitions and cultural events and written through literature, manuscripts, books and so forth. Hence, through these centuries, Art has revealed itself through text, audio, pictures, sculpture, paintings, architecture, graphics, photography and visuals. Other art forms include theatre, music and dance.

The Museum in collaboration with UNDP also uses multimedia and the technology of computers to invent numerous software packages that store, preserve and exhibit information about the Indian Culture. It enables everyone who is familiar with the usage of these available resources to explore individual subjects on the cultural diversity and art forms of India. The Museum is divided into six units that constitute of Kala Nidhi, Kala Kosa, Janapada Sampada, Kala Darsana, Kala Sampada and Sutradhara in order to ensure seamless functioning of the centre.

Kala Nidhi

Kala Nidhi is a library that homes a collection of multimedia database of all Indian Heritage, humanities, arts and culture. The Information System holds the main resource bank that assists researchers and scholars to research and study disciplines like archaeology, anthropology, philosophy, History, Linguistics, Literature, Arts and Crafts and many more. It preserves a massive library of microfilms and hard copies on the art and culture of India and all the Countries under the Asian Continent. This library also homes a work collection of over 50 lakhs to be completed in the coming years.

Kala Kosa

Kala Kosa is dedicated exclusively to the collection of all and any material relating to the different Indian linguistics that fuses text with verbal, aural with visuals, philosophical approach with scientific approach and theoretical applications with practical applications. This division studies, researches and publishes all material and text relating to the concepts, fundamentals and usage of the Indian languages that are centuries old and thus elaborating the importance of this discipline within the umbrella of Indian Culture and their traditions and at the same time displaying those original languages that were probably lost, hidden or unknown to the world either because they were never published nor accessible to anyone.

Kala Kosa also organises various workshops to educate young students across India on the significance of Manuscripts and Paleography where Eminent Scholars from across India participate to train these students on the study of ancient writing and manuscripts like Brahmi, Gauri, Grantha, Lipi, Old Oriya, Sarada and Newari etc. Other studies include determination of date, decipherment of ancient date formats, critical editing and proofreading etc.

Janapada Sampada

Janapada Sampada was established in 1988 in view of engaging the study of various Indian lifestyles. This division is dedicated to the study and research of social, economic and cultural aspects of the Indian Art and Culture and hence compliments the importance of the work done in Kala Kosa unit.

Kala Darsana provides a forum to address and discuss all creative aspects and exchange dialogues about the various disciplines, societies, culture and arts that envisage and presents these topics in a unique fashion and hence also compliments the work done in the Janapada Sampada division. They organise exhibitions like ‘Matigarh’ which helps in advertising and accentuating the diverse art and culture of India.

Kala Darsana

Kala Darsana provides a forum to address and discuss all creative aspects and exchange dialogues about the various disciplines, societies, culture and arts that envisage and presents these topics in a unique fashion and hence also compliments the work done in the Janapada Sampada division. They organise exhibitions like ‘Matigarh’ which helps in advertising and accentuating the diverse art and culture of India.

Kala Sampada

Kala Sampada or the digital library homes the Cultural Informatics Lab or CIL in short which was established in 1994 and uses technology to document, preserve and make available all the information based on the various disciplines and cultural heritage of India. Millions of resources like Manuscripts, unique and rare books and photographs, video footages with audio background are all packed in digital formats and available on computers to all scholars, lecturers, researchers and students to either acquire knowledge or use it for educational purposes.

Sutradhara

Sutradhara acts as a central node that supports the organisation’s administrative and managerial divisions. This division coordinates the administration, Services, Demands, Supplies, International exchange of Information and Dialogue, Account and Financial aspects of the other five functional units of the Museum.

The IGNCA Museum opens on all days except National Holidays from 1000 hours to 1700 hours with no entry fee; however, photography and video filming are strictly prohibited for security reasons and protection of information.