This city is a booming cultural center that coexists in the present and the past. The current city is the eighth that has been built on this site since the 8th century, and some believe that the earliest was actually created in 2,500 B.C. The present New Delhi, a discrete city located within the larger metropolis, was declared the capital of the British colony of India in 1911, replacing Calcutta, and has remained the capital of independent India as well.

But for its millennia-long history, Delhi is a very contemporary city as well, with malls, lounges, and swanky dining areas, as well as a telecommunication revolution evidenced by the Internet cafes that have popped up in even relatively impoverished neighborhoods. It’s also bursting at the seams with people — some 16 million of them (and it’s only India’s second-largest city, after Mumbai), a mix of Indians who’ve come for work and a growing international population, in addition to the traditional diplomats. When in Delhi, be sure to take advantage of the range of experiences the city has to offer, from heritage sites to hip cafés to the feast of sights and sounds that enliven the storied streets.

Go:

India Art Summit
WHERE: At the ITPO, Pragati Maidan, Delhi. Ask to be taken to Pragati Maidan from the Mathura Road side.
WHEN: August 19 to 22, 2009
HIGHLIGHTS: This is the opportunity for anyone interested in Indian art to get a good sense of the range of practices, learn about local galleries (55 of them are represented here), and, for a fee of $175, hear some of contemporary Indian art’s best-known scholars and practitioners share their ideas in a seminar spread over two and a half days. As India’s art scene is concentrated in Delhi and Mumbai (with a smaller center in Bangalore), it’s unlikely you’ll ever see such a wide sampling of work under one roof without having to travel throughout the country. The summit is also an opportunity to see the works of artists who seldom show, such as Subba Ghosh, who is known for his unique vocabulary derived from popular culture but has shown only once in the last decade. If you are interested in buying Indian art, this is also a good opportunity to survey the range of individual artists and prices. Most galleries are unsure about sales this year but are convinced about the value of interacting with potential clients. Still, there are good bargains, such as those offered by New York–based Indian contemporary-art gallery, Aicon, all priced at under $2,000.

Humayun’s Tomb
WHAT: A precursor of the Taj Mahal, this mausoleum was built in 1570 on the site where the Mughal emperor Humayun, an avid astronomer, is believed to have fallen and died after an evening of stargazing.
WHERE: In New Delhi, close to the economically diverse Nizamuddin neighborhood, which is named after a Sufi saint buried nearby. Take a taxi and keep it waiting while you look around. Budget for an hour here.
HIGHLIGHTS: Note the geometrical green lawns, an intrinsic part of this building and all high Mughal architecture, as well as the red sandstone.

Delhi Heritage Walk
WHAT: Delhi is full of historic areas, but they can be hard to see and understand. Instead, see Old Delhi with the Itihaas Trust, which conducts small, personalized tours of the old city.
WHERE: The trust meets attendees near the area to be explored; contact Itihaas for more information.
WHEN: The next walk is on September 22, at 6 p.m., at the Turkman Gate area. Contact Mohsin at +91-11-23320547 or e-mail itihaasw@gmail.com for other information and inquiries. The walks are not scheduled with any regularity, but you can call to request a walk with advance notice, or to learn about the next walk.
HIGHLIGHTS: The Turkman Gate, built in the mid-17th century, is one of the most densely populated areas of Delhi. Here, you can still see horse-pulled tongas and old family-owned businesses.

National Museum
WHAT: The National Museum is a government-run treasure-house. It may not be the best-maintained or the slickest institution you’ve visited, but it contains some of the greatest artifacts from all over India, dating from antiquity to the 19th century.
WHERE: At Janpath Road
HIGHLIGHTS: The artifacts from one of the world’s oldest civilizations, in the Indus Valley, are outstanding in their intricacy and sheer aesthetics, and are especially stunning if you are not already familiar with the history of the time. The collection is remarkable for its famous seals and terra cottas, but it surprises with objects like weights and measures, used even in those ancient times. Don’t leave without also seeing the exquisite Indian miniature paintings and the dramatic jewelry collection.


Stay:

The Aman New Delhi
The new boutique hotel from the Aman group has been popular from its first day. Located near the lovely Lodhi Gardens, the hotel is designed to offer a sense of vast spaciousness to its guests, using Indian motifs and materials as well as a very contemporary, restrained architecture that uses minimal lines to blend into the landscape.
Lodhi Road
91-11/4363 3333

Rates: $900–2,700
www.amanresorts.com

The Imperial
This beautiful gem, built in the 1930s, takes you back to early-20th-century Delhi in style. The historic photographs lend themselves to a permanent exhibition, and the coffee shop is magically inviting at all times of day and night. If you never cared for history, here is an opportunity to change your mind.
Janpath
91-11/2334 1234, /4150 1234
Rates: $220–2,000
www.theimperialindia.com

The Taj Hotels
There are actually two Taj hotels in Delhi — the Taj Mahal hotel and Taj Palace hotel. Both are highly luxurious, with impeccable service and stunningly beautiful lobbies where traditional Indian arts have been used optimally. The Taj Mahal houses the iconic Delhi coffee shop Machaan — a Hindi term for a tree house in a forest where hunters would wait for their prey, and the ambience of which has been re-created. A favorite of the who’s who in the city.

The Taj Mahal Hotel
1, Mansingh Road
91-11/23026162
mahal.delhi@tajhotels.com
tajhotels.com

Taj Palace Hotel
Sardar Patel Marg
Diplomatic Enclave
91-11/2611 0202
palace.delhi@tajhotels.com
Rates: $405–505
tajhotels.com

The Trident Hilton
Delhi’s high-rent satellite city Gurgaon, in addition to boasting distinctive high-rise housing, offers a luxury hotel with 129 rooms and seven suites, set on seven acres of greens. The Trident offers its guests an oasis of green and peace, away from the intensely built-up neighborhood. All guests are offered a group yoga class — something surprisingly hard to find in Delhi.
443 Udyog Vihar, Phase V
Gurgaon 122 016
91-124/245 0505
Rates: $256–426
tridenthotels.com

Eat & Drink:

Varq
Quite easily the best adventurous and avant-garde contemporary-Indian restaurant, Varq, which refers to the thin silver foil used in Indian desserts, is set in the Taj Mahal Hotel. It is overseen by celebrity chef Hemant Oberoi. Allow the server to guide you, but don’t miss the ganna kabab, which is minced meat wrapped around sugarcane sticks. The fusion desserts are the rage here.
The Taj Mahal Hotel
1, Mansingh Road
New Delhi - 110 011
India
91-11/23026162
tajhotels.com

Swagath
“Everyone loves Swagath,” says Peter Nagy, owner of the über-cool gallery Nature Morte. “It has great Mangalorean South Indian cuisine.” No one in Delhi serves authentic coastal South Indian cuisine, a rarity in any case, as Swagath does. If there is only one thing you order, let it be the fish gussy (and be sure to ask if the fish will be deboned). With four locations in Delhi.
14, Defence Colony Market
91-11/24337538
swagath.in

Dum Pukht
Dum Pukht is the kind of place you visit as a special treat to yourself. The cuisine is from Awadh, a region of North India where food is sealed and cooked on a slow fire for several hours, and with few spices, to bring out the intense natural flavors and aromas of meats and chicken especially. Located in the ITC Maurya Sheraton Hotel.
Diplomatic Enclave, Sardar Patel Marg, Chanakyapuri
91-11/26112233

Lodi—The Garden Restaurant
Mamta Singhania, owner of the popular Anant Art Gallery, is full of praise for what she describes as “a lovely place, right in the middle of Lodi Gardens.” She loves this eatery for both its ambience and its food. The Lodi is set in the city’s most beloved park. You can pick from a Lebanese or an Italian menu. If you come here for lunch, a walk around the gardens to see the stately, centuries-old monuments and lovely trees is not to be missed.
Lodi Road, inside Lodi Gardens
91-11/43104310
www.sewara.com/sewara/lodi_the_garden_restaurant.html

Spirit
Located in the popular and historic Connaught Place market, Spirit offers Italian, Lebanese, and Indian grilled food with a cheerful but understated ambience, plus a chance to observe India's youth, who are increasingly treating themselves to fine dining. Sitting in the lounge area also ensures that you get a view of Connaught Place — a shopping area developed in the 1930s and organized in giant but graceful concentric circles modeled after a similar structure in Bath, England.
E-34, Connaught Place
91-11/41017006, /41517767

See:

Take a break from the India Art Summit to check out Delhi’s gallery scene — and some of India’s most exciting contemporary artists. 

Nature Morte
Jagannath Panda is a young artist in his late 30s, widely praised forboth his quirky sculptural works, which often use brocade, and hisextraordinary paintings. Both delve into contradictoryworlds of fantasy and reality, fused in disjointed andmesmerizing ways. See his exhibition "The Action of Nowhere" through Sept. 5.
A-1 Neeti Bagh
91-11/4174 0215
naturemorte.com

Anant Art Gallery
Anant currently has on view Shukla Sawants show "Outside the Fold," through Sept. 18. A faculty member of the School of the Arts and Aesthetics at the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University and a well-known artist, Shukla has addressed such ideas as migration, production, and memory in her powerful installations.

F 213-B, Lado Sarai
91-11/41554775/76
anantart.com

Anant also opens Atul Bhallas show “In Another Sweat” at its satellite gallery in nearby Noida on August 22, as part of the India Art Summit. Atul, who has trained in India and the United States, has gained widespread popularity in the last half-decade, and the issues he addresses in his photography and installations — the politics and idea of water — have also gained the public's attention. On view through Sept. 30.
A-21/22 Sector-5 Noida, District Gautam Budh Nagar
91-0120/4336976
anantart.com

Gallery Espace
One of the oldest galleries in Delhi, Espace currently has on view “Re-visioning Materiality - II,” a sequel to a show of the same name it put on last year. Featuring mostly younger Indian artists, the show examines the use of unconventional materials. Mekhla Bahl, for example, dips small toy soldiers and footballers into chickpea batter and fries them at varying temperatures, mimicking the popular Indian snack pakora. She places these on the walls as a map to create a heat map of the world, with the extra-crisp fried figures on sites where global warming has been the most visible. Manjunath Kamath breaks giant Vishnu heads along with wooden chairs, the dust an important part of the work.
16, New Friends Community Centre, New Friends Colony
91-11/2632 6267,
galleryespace.com

Shop:

Delhi is a fantastic shopping city, attracting artisans and materials from all over India.

Khan Market
Khan Market used to be a quiet neighborhood marketplace with bookshops, groceries, a few boutiques, and the odd café. Now, thanks to India’s economic boom, it’s become a densely packed, thoroughly gentrified, and decidedly upscale center boasting several dozen boutiques and eateries, as well as showrooms for Western staples Nike, Reebok, and Benetton. Mamta Singhania of Anant Art Gallery is clear about her favorite purveyor, Amrapali: “It has such beautiful jewelry,” she exclaims. “Everyone can find something — silver or traditional gold.” Apart from this exquisite shop, check out the crafts-revival boutique Anokhi, the bags and accessories at the Good Earth, and the various emerging local designers.
Located at Subramanium Bharti Marg, next to Sujan Singh Park

Qutub Crescent Mall
This crescent-shaped mall, with nearly 40 stores, is the mecca of Indian couture in North India. Several Indian designers have set up their flagship stores here, giving shoppers a chance to take in a panorama of current fashions before making their selections. Located near Qutub Minar, the highest tower in India.
Crescent Mall, Mehrauli, Lado Sara
91-11/29521568

Lodhi Colony Market
Lodhi Colony Market used to be a sleepy residential area where government officials made their homes, but in the past several years, shops have slowly moved in, turning it into a quirky shopping attraction. Renu Modi, owner of Gallery Espace, is quick to point out that although “there are so many really good shops there,” it still has a rather low profile. Her own favorite is Manish Aroras store Fish Fry, which offers his in-your-face fashion line, also called Fish Fry, which borrows from street art and popular culture.
Main Market, Lodhi Colony
, Lodhi Road. Behind Habitat Centre

Central Cottage Industries Emporium
This government-owned enterprise is simply an old-fashioned, multilevel sort of department store with several sections for leisurely browsing and shopping. From carpets to bronze statues to silver bracelets to shawls, the Cottage can be relied on to stock a range of high-quality Indian crafts and fabrics.
STC Building, Janpath