If there is only one place to visit in Chennai, it is its National Art Gallery. A single complex houses the public museum, the National Art Gallery and the Connemara Library — a treat for lovers of art, painting and sculpture.
The public museum and its bronzes
Built in 1857, it holds an outstanding collection of South Indian bronzes, ancient and modern, including magnificent Śiva Naṭarāja, Pārvatī, Rāma, Sītā, Lakṣmaṇa and Hanumān (the geological and anthropological sections are of less interest).
The Amaravati gallery
It preserves rare 2nd-century marble sculptures unearthed from the Buddhist ruins of Amaravati, illustrating the life of Gautama Buddha, as well as bronzes from the 10th–13th centuries.
The National Art Gallery
It shows magnificent 16th–18th-century paintings from Rajasthan, the Mughal period, and 17th-century Deccan art.
Practical information: open 9:30 am–5:30 pm, closed Friday · entry 15 INR (adult), 10 INR (child) · tel. 2819 3238.
