The Presidential Palace of India

Presidential Palace or Rashtrapati Bhavan (Source: Internet)

The official residence of President of India is known as Rashtrapati Bhavan. Rashtrapati means Head (Pati) of the State (Rashtra) and Bhavan stands for House. President of India, lives in a royal office-cum-residence magnificent palace which has legacy of bygone British era.

Magnificent Palace (Picture courtesy: boomsbeat.com)

Partition of Bengal in 1905 had caused enough political volcanic eruption and British Empire felt that keeping capital of India under British rule in Calcutta was no longer safe. Delhi, devoid of past glory after last Mughal Emperor was dethroned, appeared to be best alternative of Calcutta as new capital. During Delhi Durbar (Court of Delhi) held on 12 Dec 1911, British King-Emperor George V and Queen-Empress Mary had announced that capital of India would be shifted from Calcutta (now Kolkata) to Delhi. They were the first British Monarch couple to visit India. The royal couple had landed in Bombay (now Mumbai) in Dec 1911. To commemorate their arrival, Gateway of India was constructed in Mumbai. The foundation stone was laid in Mar 1913 and was inaugurated on 04 Dec 1924.

As Delhi was announced as new capital, construction of a brand new palatial residential accommodation for Viceroy of India in Delhi became necessary. Edwin Landseer Lutyens, the British architect was given the responsibility for its design and construction. Originally construction was scheduled to start itself in 1911 but actually commenced in 1913. A budget of 400, 000 GBP was granted with a time frame of four years. Time overrun, due to WW I (1914-1918) and other factors, resulted into seventeen long years for completion and cost escalated to 877,136 GBP (nearly 120% increase)!

It was built by Indian contractors and artisans under the supervision of the imperial designer Lutyens, the Chief Architect assisted by Herbert Baker and Hugh Keeling, the Chief Engineer. Indian contractors viz. Baisakha Singh (from Amritsar), Dharam Singh, Narain Singh, Seth Haroun Al-Rashid, Sujan Singh and his son Sobha Singh (from Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan) were key players in a mammoth project of building new capital. The father-son Sujan-Sobha duo built the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan. Seth Haroun was responsible for Rashtrapati Bhavan and went back home at Sindh (now in Pakistan), after completion of the task. Ultimately Viceroy’s House was completed in 1929.

Lord Irwin, Viceroy and Governor-General of India (1926–1931) occupied it first on 06 Apr 1931. Hence it was called Viceroy's House. Lord Mountbatten was last the British Viceroy and first Governor-General of independent India to live in the Viceroy House.

Lord Mountbatten

A set of six stamps was issued to commemorate the inauguration of Imperial capital New Delhi on 09 Feb 1931. In one of the stamp, the building was depicted and it was mentioned as Viceroy’s House. These stamps were designed by HW Barr. They were printed by Offset-Lithography technique at Security Printing Press (presently India Security Press), Nashik.

The Viceroy's House

Cut from British ruled India to independent India. When India got independence on 15 Aug 1947, the Viceroy House was renamed as Government House.

Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (aka Rajaji) took oath under the Central Dome of the mansion on 21 June 1948 as first Indian Governor General and became first Indian occupant of Government House.

Chakravarti Rajagopalachari 

However, he found that 340 rooms in the four storied palace were too large for his humble accommodation. Even the Viceroy’s room was too royal and uncomfortable for him. He stayed, with his family, in a few rooms which later converted into family wing for Indian Presidents. Dr. Rajendra Prasad became first President of independent India (26 Jan 1950) and as Indian President he moved into Government House. Since then, the British era Viceroy's House was christened as Presidents' House or Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Dr. Rajendra Prasad, First President of India

It is a heritage building. Let us have a look at a the grandeur and massive ornamented structure of the complex which was built in red stone, bricks, marbles etc. Thousands of stone masons, artists, cutters, etc had toiled under the scorching summer Sun and severe winter of northern India to complete the project. The 'H' shaped building covers 5 acres on a landmass of 330 acres, out of which 190 acres is garden. Total length of the corridor within the palace is about 2.5 kilometers. Total floor area is 200,000 square feet (19,000 square meter). In the construction 700 million pieces of bricks and staggering three million cubic feet of stone were consumed. However, very little quantity of steel was used.

Today, the central dome of the building has fluttering tri-colour (National flag of India) on the top of it. According to Lutyens, the design of the dome evolved from Pantheon, Rome. However, from outside it has much resemblance with Buddhist stupa at Sanchi. 

Sanchi Stupa in Joint Issue

It is surrounded by stone railings of Sanchi design on a square base. There are four octagonal kiosks at each corner of the square base. The work for reinforced concrete shell of the outer dome started at early 1929 and finishing touch was given on 06 Apr 1929. The diameter of the dome is 22.8 meters.

Buddhist Stupa in Sanchi

The building has many red sandstone screens which are called jaalis. Perforations were created in stone slabs in floral, geometric designs. Stone jaalis were extensively used with intricate designs which were inspired from Red Fort of Delhi. Red Fort derived its name from red sandstone walls and it was constructed by Shah Jahan, Mughal Emperor in 1638 when he shifted his capital from Arga to Delhi.

This magnificent mansion is also open to public for visit. Certain sections of the Bhavan can be visited through advance online booking. Online registration charge of INR 50 per circuit per visitor is payable. Child below age of eight is exempted from paying registration fee.

Trips can be planned under three circuits.
Circuit No. 1 covers Reception, Forecourt, Main building, Banquet Hall, Lutyens Grand Stairs, Ashok Hall, North Drawing Room, Long Drawing Room, Library, Durbar Hall etc.
Circuit No. 2 takes one to Rashtrapati Bhavan Musuem Complex which has a collection of amazing artifacts. The trip includes Clock Tower, Stables and Garages too.
Circuit No. 3 is most popular among visitors as it covers Mughal Gardens and other Gardens (Herbal Garden, Spiritual Garden and Musical Garden) of the complex. These gardens are open to public during Udyanotsav (Festival of Gardens) during Feb - Mar of every year.

Visit through prior booking can also be done for witnessing the Change of Guard ceremony (Saturdays and Sundays) which does not require entry or registration fee.

H.E. Droupadi Murmu, 15th & present President of India: from personal collection

H.E. Ram Nath Kovind, 14th President of India: from personal collection

Late H.E. Pranab Mukherjee,13th President of India (2012 - 2017); from personal collection

Envelope from the office of H.E. President of India

In the year 2011, New Delhi celebrated centenary (since Delhi Durbar of 1911) and Rashtrapati Bhavan completed eighty glorious years. 

Miniature Sheet or Souvenir Sheet

To commemorate the event, India Post issued four number of commemorative stamps and one miniature sheet on Rashtrapati Bhavan.

 

First Day Cover

In order to popularize it as a tourist destination, a Permanent Pictorial Cancellation of Rashtrapati Bhavan was introduced by India Post on 26 May 2014.

Palace as cancellation

 This has a sketch of the Bhavan (Palace) as cancellation. 

Permanent Pictorial Cancellation

You can put Rashtrapati Bhavan (Presidential Palace) on an envelope, if not inside it!

Webliography:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashtrapati_Bhavan

https://presidentofindia.nic.in/overview-of-rashtrapati-bhavan.htm

https://www.livehistoryindia.com/cover-story/2019/11/15/the-indians-who-built-new-delhi

The story has been published in popular philatelic e-magazine ‘Ananthapuri Stamp Bulletin’ (Jan 2021 issue). Scans of relevant pages are given below.

Cover Page

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Page 2 of 3

Page 3 of 3

 

Disclaimer:

The noble objective of this blog, is to promote the hobby of philately through images of stamps, a few pictures and related narration. Some of the scans and pictures featured in this blogpost are mine while others (sourced from internet) are the properties of their respective owners. No intention to infringe any type of copyright.

The information provided in the article is for general informational purposes only. All information is provided in good faith. This is only for sharing of knowledge of philately with philatelist fraternity of the world. No commercial or political angle, whatsoever, is involved. Under no circumstances, I shall have any liability for reliance on any information provided in the story.