Cultural Capital

The pride of being the “Cultural Capital” at one time belonged to Calcutta (now Kolkata). But after a century since the administrative capital shifted to Delhi, today it is also the cultural capital of the country. Indeed, art, music and literature have always prospered in the vicinity of state patronage.

Within Delhi, we must first zero in on the Mandi House Area, which houses a cluster of auditoriums and other seats of culture. If you take the Barakhamba Road from Connaught Place, you reach the Mandi House roundabout. Radial roads lead you to the world of arts.

The National School of Drama (NSD), or the Rashtriya Natya Vidyalaya, is housed in Bahawalpur House on Bhagwan Das Road. It admits 20 students every year for a three-year course in dramatic arts. Some of the finest actors of the country have studied here. NSD has two performing wings

— the Repertory Company and Theatre-in-Education. The building also houses the Kathak Kendra, a leading Kathak dance institute in India. It was established by the Sangeet Natak Akademi in 1964 and has very eminent teachers who are experts in their respective disciplines.

The adjacent road is Copernicus Marg, on which stands the imposing Doordarshan building or Mandi House, which gives the entire area its name. This is the headquarters of Doordarshan, the state-owned television channel. The channel was established in 1959 and continued to have monopoly till the advent of the new economic policy in 1991.

There are several buildings of cultural importance on the other side of the road between Copernicus Marg and Ferozeshah Road. Kamani Auditorium is one of the oldest cultural venues in the city. The stage is huge and eye-catching with a 40-foot opening frontage — perfect for staging ballets, plays, group and solo performances. The auditorium can accommodate more than 600 people easily. It boasts the latest technology, light and sound equipment that match international standards.

The Lalit Kala Akademi nearby is housed in Rabindra Bhavan. It was set up in 1954 to study, nourish and research