Rashtrapati Bhavan, the official residence of the President of India, nestled on the magnificent Raisina Hill, was built as the residence of the Viceroy during the British rule.

It was known as the Viceroy House when India was governed by the British. After the country gained independence it was re-named Government House. When India became a republic in 1952 it was re-christened as Rashtrapati Bhavan or President House.

This magnificent building nestled on the Raisina Hill, apart from being the official residence of the President of India, has also played host to numerous heads of state and governments.

After Lord Mountbatten, C.Rajgopalachari, a Congressman, became the first and only Indian Governor General, post-independence. 1. Dr. Rajendra Prasad January 30, 1950 to May 13, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan May 13, 1962 to May 13, Zakir Hussain May 13, 1967 to May 3, Varahagiri Venkata Giri May 3, 1969 to July 20, Muhammad Hidayatullah July 20, 1969 to August 24, Varahagiri Venkata Giri August 24, 1969 to Aug 24, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed August 24, 1974 to Feb11, Basappa Danappa Jatti Feb 11, 1977 to July 25, Neelam Sanjiva Reddy July 25, 1977 to July 25, Giani Zail Singh July 25, 1982 to July 25, Ramaswamy Venkataraman July 25, 1987 to July 25, Shankar Dayal Sharma July 25, 1992 to July 25, Kocheril Raman Narayanan July 25, 1997 to July 25, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam July 25, 2002 to July 25, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil July 25, 2007 to till date

1. Jawaharlal Nehru August 15, 1947 to May 27, Gulzarilal Nanda May 27, 1964 to June 9, Lal Bahadur Shastri June 9, 1964 to January 11, Gulzarilal Nanda January 11, 1966 to January 24, Indira Gandhi January 24, 1966 to March 24, Morarji Desai March 24, 1977 to July 28, Choudhary Charan Singh July 28, 1979 to January 14, Indira Gandhi January 14, 1980 to October 31, Rajiv Gandhi October 31, 1984 to December 2, Vishwanath Pratap Singh Dec 2, 1989 to November 10, Chandra Shekhar November 10, 1990 to June 21, P. V. Narasimha Rao June 21, 1991 to May 16, Atal Behari Vajpayee May 16, 1996 to June 1, H. D. Deve Gowda June 1, 1996 to April 21, Inder Kumar Gujral April 21, 1997 to March 19, Atal Behari Vajpayee March 19, 1998 to May 22, Dr. Manmohan Singh May 22, 2004 to till date

The edifice has played a pivotal role in free India. Fifty years after India became a republic, an attempt has been made to give people a chance to peep into the residence of twelve Indian Presidents, two Governor Generals and five Viceroys of the British Raj.

The wide Rajpath forms an axis leading to the triumphal arch India Gate in the east.

Rashtrapati Bhawan, or rather, the Viceregal Lodge, is really part of the new urban complex that was built after King George V announced in 1911 that the British would shift their capital (from Calcutta) to Delhi.

Edwin Lutyens - the architect of Delhi co-designed the Rashtrapati Bhavan Raisina was then but a wilderness, south of Shahjanabad. It was there that a team of architects led by Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker designed the new capital.

They viewed several architectural monuments of India, and although they did not admit to being impressed by them, their imprint is pervasive in the structures the architects erected. They are said to have felt that the architectural style of the new capital should be "neither Indian nor English nor Roman, but Imperial". It took 20 years and 15 million pounds to build the new capital, which was inaugurated in 1911.

In the meetings that took place it was decided that though the outside façade would have Indian features the inside would be decidedly British. When the British built it they thought they were going to be in India forever.

The building was to be out of bounds for Indians. Alas, that was not to be. The British had to leave India 17 years after it was built. Author and Neemrana restorer, Aman Nath says, " Edwin Lutyens disliked anything Indian. He had nothing but contempt for Indian architecture. The Rashtrapati Bhavan would have looked like any British building had the then Viceroy Lord Harding not given strict instructions to Lutyens to assimilate the designs from Indian architecture."

The British wanted the Union Jack to fly over and above everything. Architectural drawings showed it as taller than other high rise buildings of the era like Jama Masjid and the Red Fort. It took eight years to build Rashtrapati Bhavan.

World famous architect Edwin Lutyens was given the contract to design the building. The work for its construction commenced in 1913 and its first occupant, Viceroy Lord Irwin moved in on January 23, 1931.

However, the British rulers of India could not foresee their exit which is why they took so much pain in building this grand structure. It was meant to be like Capitol Hill in Washington. Since it was the supposed to be the residence of the imperial ruler it was consciously built at a height.

The Rashtrapati Bhavan covers an area of 18,580 sq meters (200,000 square feet). The total cost involved in the construction was Rs. 1.4 million. Over 3,500 men worked on 3.5 million cubic feet of marble. And 1,700 million bricks went into its construction.

Lord Harding had a very clear idea about the location. He wanted the Rashtrapati Bhavan (then Viceroy House) to be on the Raisina Hills with one axis towards the Purana Quila as it was a blend of Hindu and Muslim cultures and the other axis towards Red Fort as it was a Mughal building." Lutyens worked with another architect, Herbert Baker. Their styles came to be known as Indo-Saracenic architecture. The two relied heavily on existing buildings and styles. Though Lutyens did not admit it, he borrowed heavily from Indian architecture.

The dome was a virtual replica of the Sanchi Stupa---a shrine for Buddhist relics.

The Mughal jalis and motifs were copied from the Diwan-i-Khas in Delhi's Red Fort.

But despite such eclectic borrowings, the final result is both captivating and stunning. " Rashtrapati Bhavan is an exhibitionist building which has everything huge--- verandahs, balconies and massive columns. It is an imposing structure," says Nath.

The sprawling Moghul Garden inside the Rashtrapati Bhavan was inspired by the Shalimar Gardens in Srinagar and the green spreads around the Taj Mahal.

The first occupant of the palatial building with 340 rooms was Lord Irwin. Designed again by Lutyens, it has a large court and a garden which is open to the public for a short while in February when the flowers are in full bloom.

It has one of the largest gardens in the country - the Mughal Gardens spread over 342 acres.

President Patil in the Mughal Gardens

During the tenure of President R. Venkatraman attention was paid to the art treasures in the Rashtrapati Bhavan. The artefacts are now deposited in a museum which was once upon a time the Viceroy’s private supper room.

Similarly, President Narayanan took upon a novel initiative of conservation of water through rain water harvesting with the help of the late environmentalist, Anil Aggarwal.

The parade on 26 January, Republic Day, proceeds on the Rajpath to Red Fort, and three days later, the Beating of the Retreat takes place at Vijay Chowk.

Beating of the Retreat

The National Awards are bestowed in its Durbar Hall.

President’s Bodyguards are exciting to see at all state occasions

Rashtrapati Bhavan view from Rajpath

Rashtrapati Bhawan Outer Gate

Jaipur Column

The south wing of Rashtrapati Bhavan.