Auto biennale Delhi 2026.

[Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi]

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

So, as this auto rickshaw 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 auto rickshaws. Five years ago, a survey of auto seat art by The Delhi Walla discovered a kind of auto rickshaw 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 auto rickshaw 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.

One auto rickshaw backrest shows two parrots facing each other, their beaks touching into a kiss. Another shows a dog asleep in a basket. Then there is a woman in a green veil sharing her frame, of all things, with a lion. Women recur in Delhi’s auto rickshaw seat art. One wears a naqab covering her face, leaving only the eyes exposed. Beside her is a heart enclosing the romantic words “Sirf Tum.”

The auto-rickshaw 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 auto rickshaw. 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 an auto rickshaw driver might ask.

One rainy afternoon, another form of auto rickshaw 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.