Art walk at The Leela Palace New Delhi
An aesthetical juxtaposition of traditional and contemporary art, the hotel features the work of artist Satish Gupta, Seema Kohli,Subhash Awchat, which accentuate the grace and grandeur of The Leela Palace New Delhi.

As you walk into the Leela Palace Hotel in New Delhi, the eight-feet-tall Devi, a panch-dhatu sculpture by Satish Gupta, that occupies the central courtyard behind the building.

The statue, which can be seen from almost every floor, is an amalgamation of the various goddesses, with the crown representing Kali, the lotuses above her crown representing Laxmi and Saraswati and the lion at the base representing Durga. The theme of lotuses is repeated in the artwork around the hotel. Taking it forward, there are lotuses on the mosaic floor of the patio and in the two large panch-dhatu installations by Gupta called Let a Thousand Lotuses Bloom on the walls surrounding the courtyard.
Inside the Lobby, there’s another series by Gupta called the Golden Lotuses. Up a floor, enter the spa and come face to face with Seema Kohli’s Golden Womb. At first glance, her canvas shows a swan with a faceless woman staring at a golden sun, a winged figure lying in her embrace. It’s only when you look closely at the canvas that you realise that every bit of it is decorated with trees, water and nymphs. Hidden on the second floor of the spa is what Gupta calls his favourite set of paintings in the entire collection, after the Devi. This is a series called Silver Moons, a set of 12 paintings that feature pink lotuses, though in a silver landscape this time.

Inside the viewing gallery across the hotel lobby, I walk past an abstract by Paresh Maity, towards two paintings by Subhash Awchat. These spectacular paintings in saffron, gold, orange and blue show his expressionless pilgrim boys from the Parampara series.