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Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, New Delhi is the premier government funded arts organization in India, as an autonomous institution under the Union Ministry of Culture. Established in the memory of Indira Gandhi, late Indian Prime Minister, and with Kapila Vatsyayan as its founding director.
The IGNCA was launched on 19 November 1985 by the late Prime Minister Shri Rajiv Gandhi at a function where the symbolism of the components was clearly articulated at different levels. The elements - fire, water, earth, sky and vegetation - were brought together. Five rocks from five five major rivers - Sindhu, Ganga, Kaveri, Mahanadi and the Narmada were composed into sculptural forms. These will remain at the site as reminders of the antiquity of Indian culture and the sacredness of her rivers and her rocks. In a simulated pool, the first of the principles of vegetation, the lotus bloomed. Shri Rajiv Gandhi floated lighted lamps on the water. The Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts Trust was constituted and registered at New Delhi on 24 March 1987.
The founder trustees of IGNCA were Shri Rajiv Gandhi, Shri R. Venkataraman, Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao, Smt. Pupul Jayakar, the Finance Minister of 1987, Shri H. Y. Sharada Prasad and Dr. Kapila Vatsyayan.
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