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| Rashtrapati Bhawan |
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| Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi is the official residence of the President of India. It has been designed by Sir Edward Lutyens. Completed in 1929, it is situated on Rajpath in the area called Lutyens Delhi. It cost around £12, 53, 000 to make the lavish 330 acre Vice-regal Home. It is a perfect combination of western architecture with Indian sensibilities. The building was initially known as the Viceroy House. |
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Rooms and Halls
Rashtrapati Bhawan has 340 rooms. Famous Durbar Hall is used for conferring Padma Awards and various other ceremonies. Another room is Ashoka Hall which was originally built to be a ballroom and looks like a jewelery box with its adornments and size (32 by 20m). It has wooden floor, leather ceiling with a Persian style painting, central dance space and three vestibules.
Mughal Garden
Renowned Mughal Garden has more than 250 celebrated varieties of roses alone including the rare green rose. The garden is open to the public in February-March every year.
Herb Garden
The Herb Garden on the other hand has hundreds of medicinal plants used either in food or as traditional medicines. Some of the species include Indian Ginseng, Bergmont Mint, Brahmi, Citronella, Geranium, Evening Primrose, Giloy, Kalmegh and Patchouli. Also Project Roshini has been started to make the Presidential Estate a green, energy efficient, a zero waste model township and a more ecologically sensitive area.
Architecture and Design
A lot of Indian inspiration can be observed like the Chattri and Chhajja, an integral part of Indian architectural design. The walls have intricate perforated designs known as Jaali and weather shades called which save the rooms from harsh weather conditions. A stone pillar called the Jaipur Column gifted by the Maharaja Madhosingh of Jaipur to the then Viceroy adorns the middle court in the front of Rashtrapati Bhawan. It has a glass star emerging from a bronze lotus and has a steel tube core and decorated with Jaali work.
Interesting Fact
The first Lt. Governor General of India found the master bedroom too luxurious so he shifted to the smaller Ashoka room. Every president till date has followed his example. |
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