Inaugurated in 1953, Sangeet Natak Akademi is India's first National Academy for music, dance and drama. An autonomous body of Ministry of Tourism and Culture, the Akademi coordinates and collaborates with different government art institutions and art academies of every state and territory as well as with major cultural institutions of the country.

The Akademi organizes numerous programmes and cultural activities like National and Regional Festivals, Yuva Utsav and seminar and workshops on music, dance and theatre. It also arranges performances by renowned veterans and talented young artists round the year through various training programmes and activities. The Akademi has also established teaching institutions like National School of Drama and Kathak Kendra in Delhi and Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Akademi in Imphal.

The major attractions of the Akademi are its museum, audio-visual archive and library. The museum is a must-visit place as its main gallery itself has over 200 musical instruments on display. The audio-visual archive has the largest collection of audio-visual aids on performing arts anywhere in India. The library is another popular place for scholars, students and researchers in the field of Performing Arts with a huge collection of more than 22000 books covering almost all the aspects, critical development and trends in music, theatre and dance. The library consists of books in many regional languages apart from English and Hindi.

Address – Rabindra Bhawan, Ferozshah Road, New Delhi

How to Reach – Situated at a distance of less than 10 minutes from Connaught Place, the best way to get here would be to take a Metro to the Mandi House station. Else one could also take local buses or hire an auto.

Timings – 9.30am – 5.30pm (Monday to Friday)