Lajpat Nagar II · Rishabh Vihar · New Delhi
Custom tattoos and piercing in Lajpat Nagar, Delhi.
Fifteen years, two basement studios, and a book of work that runs from one letter on a wrist to a full sleeve. Fine line, micro-realism, mandala, cover-ups and the rest of the price list — drawn for the person wearing it rather than picked off a wall.
4.8 from 1,111 Google reviews 85K on Instagram Open 11.30 am – 9 pm, daily
01 The work
Eight tattoos out of fifteen years
Every photograph here was taken in the studio, on the day the piece was finished. Nothing on this page is stock, and nothing on it belongs to somebody else's shop.
Around two and a half thousand more sit on Instagram. New work goes there first.
@tribalinktattoos02 What we do
Styles, and what they cost
Nine things people walk in asking for. If what you want is not on the list, ask anyway — most of the work here starts as a photograph on somebody's phone.
01
Fine line & minimal
Single needle. A letter, a date, a small flower, a line of script. The smallest things on this page took twenty minutes.
02
Micro realism & portraits
Micro-realism and portrait work: faces, eyes and photographs turned into skin at a size you would not think holds. This is what the studio is asked for most.
03
Black & grey realism
Animals, gods, clocks, forests. Half sleeves and full sleeves, built over several sittings rather than one long one.
04
Mandala & geometric
Dotwork, sacred geometry, armbands and bands that wrap. Drawn to the shape of the arm or the back it is going on.
05
Shiva & religious
Mahadev, trishul, om, Hanuman, script. There is a whole Instagram highlight of nothing else.
06
Colour
Florals, watercolour edges, and script with one flower in colour beside it. Colour holds differently on different skin — worth talking through first.
07
Covering old ink
Cover-up tattoos and scar cover-ups. Old ink and scars redrawn into something else — bring the thing you want covered to the consultation, not a photograph of it.
08
Piercing
Ear, nose, navel and the rest, done in the same rooms and to the same hygiene standard as the tattooing.
09
Tattoo training
Tribal Ink runs a school out of the same studios. If you want to learn rather than get tattooed, ask for the course.
- Small
- ₹2,500 – ₹5,000
- Medium
- ₹5,000 – ₹15,000
- Large
- ₹10,000 – ₹20,000
- Sleeves & back pieces
- from ₹25,000
How the number is arrived at. Size, how long it takes, and how many sittings it needs. Detail and colour both add time, which is what you are actually paying for.
These are the studio's own published ranges, not a quote. Send a reference picture on WhatsApp with roughly where on the body it is going and roughly how big, and you will get a real number back.
03 The studio
Pulkit Arora, and two basements
Tribal Ink has been tattooing in Delhi for more than fifteen years. The main room is a basement off Lajpat Nagar Central Market; the second is a basement in Rishabh Vihar, near Bakebook Bakery. Wood, framed prints, good light on the chair, and a queue of people waiting on the sofa on a Saturday.
Pulkit Arora is the name most people arrive with. His work is on the Instagram, on half the photographs further up this page, and it is his signature in the corner of the colour piece at number seven.
“Absolute hygiene you can see.”
That is the studio's own line for it, and it is the part worth being fussy about. In practice it means a strict international sterilisation protocol, new needles, and professional equipment — the things you should ask any studio about before you sit down, and the things this one would rather you asked.
Among the people who have sat in these chairs: the cricketer Ravindra Jadeja, the Olympic medallist Swapnil Kusale, and the singers Jass Manak and Deep Jandu. Which is pleasant, but the 1,111 Google reviews are the more useful number.
Tattoo aftercare, in short
A tattoo is only half done when you leave. This is the studio's own aftercare, shortened.
-
The first week
Leave the wrap on for the two to four hours you are told to. After that, wash it gently with lukewarm water and a fragrance-free antibacterial soap, pat it dry with a clean paper towel, and put a thin layer of aftercare ointment on. Loose clothes, clean hands, no swimming, no sweating it out at the gym.
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The second week
It will peel and it will itch. Wash it twice a day, moisturise two or three times, drink water, wear something breathable. Do not pick the scabs and do not pull the flakes off — that is how a clean line goes patchy, and patchy means a touch-up.
-
From then on
Keep moisturising. Go easy on heavy gym sessions, long swims and strong sun for a while. Once it has healed, put SPF 30 or higher on it whenever it is out in the sun — sun is what fades a tattoo, far more than time does.
04 Where to find us
Lajpat Nagar and Rishabh Vihar
Two basement studios, both open every day, both on the same number.
South Delhi · main studio
Lajpat Nagar
A-13 Basement, near Cafe Coffee Day, Block A, Lajpat Nagar II, Lajpat Nagar, New Delhi, Delhi 110024Downstairs, at the Central Market end of Lajpat Nagar II.
East Delhi
Rishabh Vihar
77, Maharaja Surajmal Marg, Rishabh Vihar, Karkardooma, Anand Vihar, Delhi, 110092In the basement, near Bakebook Bakery.
Hours 11.30 am – 9 pm, every day. Both studios keep the same hours.
05 Booking
Book a sitting
Tell the studio what you want done, and roughly where and how big.
The quickest route is WhatsApp. Send the reference picture, say roughly where on the body it is going and roughly how big, and you will get a real quote back instead of a range.
If you would rather not, leave your number here and the studio will ring you. For a cover-up, say what is already there — it changes what is possible.