A Podcast by Abir Pothi
Art Indica
with Dr Alka Pande & Nidheesh Tyagi
Across centuries and traditions, India has produced an art history of staggering depth — and astonishing neglect. Art Indica explores the ideas, histories, and sensibilities behind the art and culture of the subcontinent. Rigorous, accessible, and always in pursuit of the overlooked and forgotten.
Now streaming · Season 1: 500 Years of Mughal Arts
Host & Guest
In conversation
N 
Host · Journalist & Editor
Nidheesh Tyagi
Editorial force behind Abir Pothi
Nidheesh Tyagi is a senior journalist, editor, and cultural commentator with over two decades of experience in storytelling, criticism, and media leadership. As the editorial force behind Abir Pothi, he has shaped one of India's most dynamic platforms for writing on art, architecture, and design — building a space where rigorous thought and accessible storytelling are never in conflict. An avid and deeply informed art lover, he has a rare ability to translate complex artistic ideas into narratives that resonate far beyond specialist circles. On Art Indica, he brings that same instinct: curious, incisive, and always attuned to the story beneath the surface.
A 
Guest · Art Historian & Curator
Dr Alka Pande
Director, Visual Arts Gallery — India Habitat Centre, New Delhi
Dr Alka Pande is one of India's most distinguished art historians, curators, and cultural thinkers. Over three decades, she has shaped the way Indian art is seen, studied, and spoken about — through landmark exhibitions, influential scholarship, and a rare gift for making complex ideas feel alive. She has authored several acclaimed books spanning classical Indian art, aesthetics, folk traditions, and contemporary practice, and has curated exhibitions across India and internationally. She remains one of the most compelling voices on the cultural heritage of the subcontinent. On Art Indica, she brings that lifetime of looking and thinking into conversation.
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Episodes
Latest Episode
Episode 1 — How the Mughals Changed India's Art & Architecture Forever
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Season 1 · The Episodes
Six parts and a bonus. New episodes release through the season — Episodes 1 & 2 are live now.
Episode 01
How the Mughals Changed India's Art & Architecture Forever
The season opener
Watch now
Episode 02
Krishna in a Mughal Court: Gods, Kings and Patronage
Art Indica · Ep 2 — Alka Pande & Nidheesh
Watch now
Episode 03
Architecture of Empire
From Fatehpur Sikri to the Taj
Coming soon
Episode 04
The Written Word
Calligraphy & the book arts
Coming soon
Episode 05
Material Worlds
Textiles, jade & the decorative arts
Coming soon
Episode 06
Afterlives
The Mughal imagination today
Coming soon
Bonus
Can India Exist Without the Taj Mahal?
Special episode
Coming soon
About the show
In pursuit of the overlooked.
Across centuries and traditions, India has produced an art history of staggering depth and astonishing neglect. Hosted by curator and art historian Alka Pande and journalist Nidheesh Tyagi, Art Indica explores the ideas, histories, and sensibilities behind the art and culture of the subcontinent.
Rigorous, accessible, and always in pursuit of the overlooked and forgotten — each conversation brings a lifetime of looking and thinking to the stories beneath the surface of Indian art.
Season 01
500 Years of Mughal Arts
Six-part series+ Bonus episodePaintingArchitectureCalligraphyMaterial culture
“Can India exist without the Taj Mahal?”
Season 1 of Art Indica takes on five hundred years of Mughal arts in a six-part series with a bonus episode, rethinking one of the subcontinent's most formative — and most contested — aesthetic legacies.
This season journeys from early ateliers and imperial patronage to the evolution of painting, architecture, calligraphy, and material culture. Art Indica invites listeners to reconsider the Mughal world not only as a political empire but as a rich cultural and aesthetic landscape — one that shaped visual culture across the subcontinent and continues to inform the contemporary imagination.
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