Rashtrapati Niwas

The Rashtrapati Niwas (literally the "President's Residence"), formerly known as Viceregal Lodge, is located on the Observatory Hill in Boileauganj, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India. It was formerly the residence of the British Viceroy of India. Its original furnishings go back to the British rule in India and the IIAS library it now contains has a vast collection.

The Viceregal Lodge was designed by British architect Henry Irwin and built in the Jacobethan style during Lord Dufferin’s tenure as Viceroy. Its construction started in 1880 and was completed in 1888. Lord Dufferin occupied the lodge on 23 July 1888. The final cost of project was around 38 lakh (3,800,000) rupees with the annual upkeep cost being around 1.5 lakh (150,000) rupees in the 1880s. At that time the estate stood on an area of 331 acres (134 ha), but today is reduced to 110 acres (45 ha). The structure draws inspiration from the architectural style of the English Renaissance, and also reflects elements of the castles of the Scottish Highlands.

The building is of light blue-grey stone masonry with tiled pitch roofing. The interior of the main building is noted for elaborate woodwork which has stood the test of time. Teak was brought from Burma, and was supplemented by local cedar wood and walnut.

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

Rashtrapati Niwas ranks #2,385 of 8,133 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #91 of the 179 mapped in India. Founded 1888 — one of 607 atlas entries founded in the 19th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 4,140 times in the last 60 days, more than 82% of the atlas. See how India compares in the castle statistics.

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