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On your travel trip to Delhi
visit the magnificent Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi, a colonial
structure also known as President House. Take a stroll at Rajpath
and view Rashtrapati Bhawan monuments made during British era.
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India -
Delhi -
Places
To See - Rashtrapati Bhawan
Rashtrapati Bhawan
¤ Rashtrapati Bhawan (Viceroy Palace)-Best Known Monument of
British Empire
The
Viceroy Palace remains Lutyens most significant achievement. It is
befittingly the crowning glory of the British Empire and architecture
in India. Today, it is perhaps India’s best known monument after
the Taj Mahal and the Qutub Minar. Bigger than the Palace of
Versailles, it cost a whopping £12,53,000 and now houses the
President of India. It is unquestionably a masterpiece of symmetry,
discipline, silhouette, colour and harmony. of course, it has come in
for much criticism too but that has mostly been limited to the
imperial intent behind it rather than its architecture.
¤ Picturesque Location
Better known now as the Rashtrapati Bhawan, the sprawling palace
straddles the crown of Raisina Hill and is the focal point of New
Delhi. The majestic Rajpath (earlier Kings Way) leads up to the palace
on Raisina Hill and here comes into view the one fatal flaw in design.
Lutyens and Baker had a major showdown about the height of the slope
approaching the palace which was at that time caricatured as the ‘War
of the Gradient’. Lutyens wanted the palace to come into view as
one climbed Raisina Hill. Unfortunately, Baker miscalculated. The
palace disappears from sight till only the copper dome is visible.
Furious with Baker, Lutyens said he had ‘met his Bakerloo’.
The palace is flanked by the two Secretariats and the three together,
open into a huge square called the Viceroy’s Court where the
Jaipur Column stands tall. The Viceroys Court, which frames the main
entrance to the house, has lateral entrances on the axis of the Jaipur
Column. Here the levels were reduced artificially and cascades of
steps are flanked by huge sandstone elephants and ranks of imperial
lions modelled by the sculptor C.S. Jagger.
¤ The Attractions of The Palace
The main entrance is approached by a broad flight of steps which lead
to a 12-column portico. Do notice the enormous projecting cornice or
chajja, a Mughal device, which blends so effortlessly with the
classical style of the monument. Lutyens’ ability to smoothly
incorporate light oriental touches is all the more remarkable given
his active and profound dislike for Indian architecture.
The most outstanding feature of the House – you can spot it
while you are still a kilometre away – is the huge neo-Buddhist
copper dome that rises over a vast colonnaded frontage. Beneath the
dome is the circular Durbar Hall 22.8m in diameter. The coloured
marbles used in the hall come from all parts of India. The Viceroy’s
throne, ceremonially placed in this chamber, faced the main entrance
and commanded a view along the great axial vista of Kingsway (now
Rajpath). At present the hall is the venue of all official ceremonies
such as the swearing in of the Prime Minister, the Cabinet and the
Members of Parliament. It is in this very chamber that the President
annually confers the Arjuna Awards for Excellence.
The columns at the front entrance have bells carved into their
capitals. Lutyens reasoned that ‘the ringing of bells sound the
end of an empire and stone bells never sound’. Despite this, the
empire came to an end a brief 16 years later.
¤ The Great Interiors
The principal floor comprises a magnificent series of state
apartments. The State Drawing Room is barrel-vaulted and plainly
treated with domestic fireplaces. The State Ballroom is enriched with
Old English mirror glass. The State Library is based on the form of
Wren’s St Stephen’s, Walbrook. The State Dining Room is
lined with teak panelling enriched with the star of India. The concept
of Imperial order and hierarchy permeates the entire house.
Marble staircases flanking the Durbar Hall provide access to the
private apartments above. There are 54 bedrooms together with
additional accommodation for guests. Lord Irwin, its first occupant, ‘kept
losing his way’ but insisted that "in spite of its size, it
was essentially a liveable-in-house."
¤ Mughal Garden
To the west the palace overlooks an enormous Mughal garden designed
by Lutyens. Here the principles of hierarchy, order, symmetry and
unity are extended from the house into the landscape. A series of
ornamental fountains, walls, gazebos and screens combine with scores
of trees, flowers and shrubs to create a paradise so delightful that
Indians called the garden ‘God’s own Heaven’. The
Irwins supervised the planting of the garden which grew in tropical
profusion softening the formal pattern of lawns and waterways.
Popularly known as the Mughal Garden, it is open to public every
spring but be prepared for the tight security check.
¤ The Glory of The Palace
After India became independent, the sheer size of the building
overwhelmed its new keepers. Mahatma Gandhi suggested it be turned
into a hospital. Thankfully, nobody took him seriously. The Durbar
Hall served as a museum for several years till the building which now
houses the National Museum was completed.
Here’s what Mark-Bence Jones remarked about life at the Viceroy’s
House in his book Palaces of the Raj. Do note the then-and-now
comparison he makes on a later visit to the palace, long after the
British had gone.
"Then there were the banquets held during sessions of the
Chamber of Princes, when every other guest at the long table was the
ruler of a State. The gold plate glittered in its crimson-lined niche,
the lustres glinted, the scarlet and gold khitmagars moved deftly
against the teak-panelled walls, and from an adjoining room came the
music of the Viceroy’s band."
"In India that replaced the Raj, Lutyens’ Palace has
managed to keep some of its glory. …As the home of a modern
democratic President, it is certainly on the large side, but the
Indians have been wise enough to maintain a Presidential establishment
worthy of the setting. Scarlet-clad guards still sit on their chargers
beneath the stone sentry boxes, khitmagars in white, red and gold line
the corridors."
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