There are around 25 museums in Delhi but a number of them have lost their glory with very few people visiting them From the National Museum to National Philatelic Museum, Gandhi Smriti, National Science Centre, Railway Museum, Shankar’s International Dolls Museum or the recently opened APJ Abdul Kalam Museum, in memory of the former President, all of them have just a handful of visitors despite free entry to these places.

Once known to be the most sought-after places for children, these days malls, shopping complexes and video games have replaced museums on the must-visit list.

On International Museum Day today, tourists disclosed that they were not even aware of the existence of these museums in the Capital. And Delhi’ites seemed least interested in visiting them.

Remy Van Zandt, a tourist from the Netherlands, said, “We are not aware of the areas. I just checked Google and here I got a tourist map in which a large number of areas have been mentioned as a ‘must visit’ in Delhi. But museums are not visible anywhere. I would be glad to visit one.”

Asked about the APJ Abdul Kalam museum at Dilli Haat INA, another tourist, Brayden said, “I am here for very little time so people suggested I visit some famous places like Chandni Chowk, Red Fort, Lotus temple, etc. But nobody suggested museums. So it just did not strike me.”

Delhiites said they have little time to spare from their daily routines and visiting museums is definitely not a priority for them.

“We are a working couple and have a six-year-old child. On weekends, we prefer going to the mall, watch a movie and dine out. Museums are far away and going there will take up the whole day. Plus, there is a lot of pending work on weekends which we prefer to wrap up. The mall is a one-stop shop where we entertain, eat and purchase groceries. It’s not like that near museums,” said Supriya Sabharwal.

Sudhir Sobti, the chief spokesperson of Delhi Tourism, said, “We have planned to begin reaching out to people aggressively through social media. Delhi has much to offer visitors and tourists like shopping, eating, movies, etc., and therefore museums are left way behind.

“We are coming out with a comprehensive publication for Delhi with a detailed tourist map and there we will add museums’ section also. In other countries, museums are the top places to visit but in India, people just ignore them.

In totality, we are working on branding Delhi,” he added. He said, “Though schools contact us and school children visit museums, for visitors, we will work on an awareness programme.”