The National Museum, New Delhi

The National Museum sits on Janpath in the wide, planned quarter of New Delhi and holds the country's broadest single collection, roughly five thousand years of material in one building. The Harappan gallery is the reason many people come: seals, pottery, jewellery and the small bronze figure known as the Dancing Girl, excavated at Mohenjo-daro. Beyond it are stone sculpture from Gandhara and the temple centuries, bronzes from the south, manuscripts, arms and armour, coins, textiles and a large holding of miniature paintings from the Mughal, Rajput and Pahari schools. Displays are uneven in age and lighting, and some galleries feel unchanged for decades, but the objects themselves are first rank.

What you actually see

• The Harappan gallery - seals, pottery, jewellery and the small bronze Dancing Girl from Mohenjo-daro.
• Stone and bronze sculpture - Gandharan Buddhas and South Indian temple bronzes across several rooms.
• Miniature painting - Mughal, Rajput and Pahari works, usually shown in deliberately low light.
• Textiles, arms and coins - the applied-art galleries upstairs, consistently quieter than the ground floor.

When to go

October to March is the comfortable season in Delhi, and the museum also works as a retreat from the heat in April and May. It closes on Mondays and on some public holidays. Mornings are quietest; school groups arrive mid-morning on weekdays. Allow extra time if you want the audio guide, which is worth the small fee.

Honest expectations

Curation is dated in places, with typed labels, dim cases and galleries that shut without notice. Photography rules change, and cameras and bags usually go into a cloakroom. The building is large and the signage is poor, so you will backtrack more than once. A good deal of the strongest material is not on display at all.

Nearby

India Gate and the shops of Connaught Place are short rides away, with Humayun's Tomb about half an hour east.