Castle Map

Palace

Rashtrapati Bhavan

India · 20th century

Founded
1929
Style
Neoclassical architecture
Architect
Edwin Lutyens
Heritage status
NDMC Heritage Building Grade I
Location
New Delhi district
Coordinates
28.61434°, 77.1998°
Links
Wikimedia Commons
Open on the map →Official website ↗Wikipedia ↗
Rashtrapati Bhavan in India
Photo: Ankur Panchbudhe from Pune, India · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Description

The Rashtrapati Bhavan (ISO: Rāṣṭrapati Bhavana; lit. 'President's House'), formerly Viceroy's House (1931–1947) and Government House (1947–1950) is the official residence of the President of India, located at the western end of Rajpath, Raisina Hill in New Delhi.

The building was designed by Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker in Delhi Order based on Indo-Saracenic architecture. The construction began in 1912 and the building was completed in 1929. The building, initially known as Viceroy's House, housed the Viceroy of India from 1931 until India's independence. After Independence, it briefly served as the Government House, housing the Governor General of India from 1947 to 1950. When India became a Republic, it became the official residence of the President of India and was renamed as the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The main building is spread across four floors and a basement, consisting of 340 rooms and featuring a total of 2.50-kilometre-long corridors, spread across a floor area of 200,000 square metres (2,200,000 sq ft), including the President's official residence, reception halls, guest rooms and offices. It is situated in a 320 acres (130 hectares) presidential estate that includes gardens, open spaces, residences for security and staff, stables, offices and other utilities. With over 200,000 square metres (2,200,000 sq ft) of total usable floor area of the H-shaped main building, the Rashtrapati Bhavan is the largest official residence by total floor area of any head of state in the world, followed by, the Istana Nurul Iman in Brunei and the Quirinal Palace in Italy.

The Indian president has other residences across India including the Rashtrapati Niketan in Dehradun, the Rashtrapati Nilayam in Hyderabad, and the Rashtrapati Niwas in Shimla.

Text adapted from “Rashtrapati Bhavan” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

In the rankings

Rashtrapati Bhavan ranks #162 of 9,902 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #7 of the 238 mapped in India. Founded 1929, one of 175 atlas entries founded in the 20th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 15,970 times in the last 60 days, more than 97% of the atlas. 10 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Delhi, 6 km away. See how India compares in the castle statistics.

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