Delhi NCR

Meeting people at Sri Venkateswara College

Sri Venkateswara College, known to everyone as Venky, is a 15-acre South Campus college in Dhaula Kuan with a temple on campus, one of DU's oldest fests and a strong commerce and science reputation. Satya Niketan across the road is where Venky's social life really happens.

The story of Sri Venkateswara College

Sri Venkateswara College was founded in 1961 by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, the trust that runs the Tirupati temple, through the efforts of Constituent Assembly member Durgabai Deshmukh along with K.L. Rao and C. Anna Rao. It started in a school building of the Andhra Education Society on Rouse Avenue with 271 students and 13 teachers.

Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan laid the foundation stone for a permanent campus, and the college moved to its present 15-acre site at Dhaula Kuan on 25 August 1971, a full decade after it opened.

Venky grew into one of South Campus's best known colleges, with strong commerce, economics and life sciences departments. It was ranked 13th among Indian colleges by NIRF in 2023, and its Economics Association runs an exchange with universities in Sri Lanka and Bhutan.

What the campus is like socially

Venky is easygoing, social and very South Campus. The Audi Lawns and the foyer are the default hangouts, the open-air canteen is beloved despite its monsoon troubles, and the temple on campus reflects the college's founding by the Tirupati trust. Admissions are merit-based through DU, like any other college.

Satya Niketan, directly across the road, works as Venky's extended campus, with cafés shared with Jesus and Mary College, Maitreyi and other South Campus students. Sarojini Nagar and the South Delhi café circuit are a short hop away.

Traditions every Venkyite knows

• Nexus: Venky's three-day inter-college cultural fest, running since 1978. Nexus 2026 featured the Nizami Bandhu and Anirudh Varma Collective and closed with Ankit Tiwari, who paid tribute to KK.
• Temple poojas: The college holds poojas at its on-campus temple, with prasad shared among students, a link to its TTD founding.
• Society auditions: Verbum, Anubhuti, Verve and Nritya run competitive auditions that freshers talk about for weeks.

Campus lore and insider spots

• A borrowed school building: One of South Campus's best known colleges spent its first decade in someone else's building on Rouse Avenue.
• The monsoon canteen: The open-air canteen floods in heavy rain, which students treat as an annual tradition rather than a problem.
• The temple on campus: Few DU colleges have a working temple on their grounds. Venky does.
• Audi Lawns: Where Venkyites gather between classes, plan fest work and catch up on campus gossip.

How to find your people here

Join a society or the fest committee at Sri Venkateswara College in your first few weeks. DU friendships tend to form around a shared activity, not the classroom, and the North or South Campus ecosystem makes it easy to meet people from other colleges too.

Fests and societies at Sri Venkateswara College

Signature fests

• NEXUS

Notable societies

• The English Debating Society
• Economics Association
• Fine Arts Association

Societies worth knowing at Sri Venkateswara College

• Verbum: The English dramatics society, one of the prestige tracks on campus.
• Anubhuti: The Hindi dramatics society, known for street theatre.
• Verve: The Western dance society, a regular at Nexus and inter-college competitions.
• Nritya: The choreography and Indian dance society.
• Effulgence: The film and photography society.
• Economics Association: Runs academic events and an exchange programme with universities in Sri Lanka and Bhutan.

Careers, internships and placements

Venky's placement cell publishes annual reports and brings in Big Four, consulting, banking and analytics recruiters, with B.Com students making up the bulk of placements. Internship drives are a big part of the cell's work.

Science students, especially in biochemistry and life sciences, often move on to research and master's programmes. Students say society leadership roles carry real weight in interviews alongside grades.

Notable alumni

• Rishabh Pant: India wicketkeeper-batter.
• Tania Sachdev: International chess master and well-known chess broadcaster.
• Jayant Chaudhary: Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
• Navdeep Singh: Paralympic javelin gold medallist at Paris 2024.
• Sriti Jha: Television actor known for Kumkum Bhagya.
• Gaurav Kapur: Television presenter.

Rivalries and eternal debates

Venky sits at the centre of the North Campus vs South Campus argument, with students insisting their college matches the big North Campus names without the crowds. Hindu College's cricket captain once compared their matches against Venky to an India-Pakistan rivalry. Nexus is benchmarked every year against Hindu's Mecca and Hansraj's Confluence on lineups and crowds.

What Sri Venkateswara College is talking about now

Nexus has moved toward themed, curated editions mixing Sufi and classical fusion with one big star night, and the fest's Instagram handles now drive most of the buzz. Crowd management at big fests is a live conversation among students.

Meeting people at Sri Venkateswara College by interest

A lot of friendships here form around a shared interest rather than a class or a hostel wing. If you are into debating and mun, finance and investing, art and sketching, theatre and dramatics, and poetry and open mics, those pages cover where that scene actually happens in India and how to find people near you who are into the same thing.

Colleges nearby

Sri Venkateswara College sits close to Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College, AIIMS New Delhi, and Jesus and Mary College, all part of the same Delhi NCR student scene. Cross-college friendships often start at inter-college fests, hackathons, or shared-interest communities rather than in class.

Similar campuses across India

If you are looking beyond your own campus, students at Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies, St. Stephen's College, and Zakir Husain Delhi College share a similar campus culture, and Zyber works the same way at each: showing you verified people nearby who match on interest, intent, or timing.

Zyber on campus

Zyber is live at Sri Venkateswara College, matching you in real time with people nearby who share your interests or your drive, with verified profiles only.

New to Sri Venkateswara College? Start here

If you are just starting out, these freshers guides are written for exactly this moment: first week of college checklist, how to choose societies in college, making friends beyond your branch, and internship in first year.

See meeting people in Delhi NCR, events in Delhi NCR, the freshers guide, the Meet People pillar, or read what Zyber is.