The Pavilion is designed to house exhibits on the life and times of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. The building is embedded in a grassy mound of earth.
The design for the Pavilion is inspired by the earliest Buddhist Stupa’s in Nepal, earth mounds containing relics of Buddha. The circulation system for the exhibition is based on ‘Parikrama’, the movement around the central structure and the plan resembles Cosmo-graphs called ‘Mandalas’.
The exhibition hall itself is arranged on two levels, with the upper level containing the Audio Visual room around the perimeter, and a stepped roof in the centre for exhibitions. Four corner windows at the upper level allow ventilation for the lower spaces, while the stepped roof, in form of a natural pyramid, has glass bricks providing subdued natural light.