Delhiwale: Auto biennale Delhi 2026

Look inside this autorickshaw

Look inside this autorickshaw. The backrest of the passenger seat bears a painting of another autorickshaw. The painting’s auto too has a yellow roof, a green body, three wheels and an open doorway.

Paintings and photos are often found illustrated on the passenger seats of Delhi’s auto rickshaws. (HT Photo)

So, as this autorickshaw travels through Delhi, it carries a picture of a fellow auto on its back seat.

Paintings and photos are often found illustrated on the passenger seats of Delhi’s autorickshaws. Five years ago, a survey of auto seat art on this page discovered a kind of autorickshaw biennale, albeit a mobile one, travelling every day through the city’s smoggy, traffic-clogged roads. The themes were many: hearts, pining lovers, the Taj Mahal and hilly landscapes. Passengers perhaps barely noticed these works, focused on their commute and their mobiles, their backs pressed against the cushioned seats displaying the art.

New works have since been spotted on autorickshaw backrests around town, prompting a new edition of the biennale.

That said, many autos still have plain seat covers. Getting the upholstery redone costs anything from 1000 rupees to 1200 rupees. In Delhi, the work is done at what are known as auto markets in Dakshinpuri, Jheel, Hastinapur and Janakpuri. In Gurugram, a few workshops stand on New Railway Road.

The autorickshaw seat art has another dimension, created by the world outside. The backrest’s plastic covering occasionally catches reflections in the daylight, especially when an auto is parked by the roadside. The reflected light distorts the picture underneath, burning it brighter. The seat art briefly looks as if it has been treated to an Instagram filter.

But the future of this chalti-phirti art on Delhi’s roads is less certain. Over the last few years, app cabs have become an ordinary part of daily commuting, cutting down on our encounters with the autorickshaw. Instead of standing by the roadside and hailing an auto, a passenger is as likely to book an AC car, watch its progress on the mobile, and know the fare in advance, without the bargaining that can be part of dealing with auto drivers. On longer journeys, the price (surprisingly) is sometimes no more than what an autorickshaw driver might ask.

One rainy afternoon, another form of autorickshaw art was discovered on a back seat. The biennale had gone three-dimensional. A real dog was sheltering inside a parked auto, curled up against the plain black seat.