Lutyens' Delhi is an area in
New Delhi
New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...
, India, named after the British architect
Edwin Lutyens
Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memorials ...
(1869–1944), who was entrusted with the vast majority of the architectural design and buildings of the city that subsequently emerged as New Delhi during the period of the
British Raj
The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent,
*
* lasting from 1858 to 1947.
*
* It is also called Crown rule ...
. Lutyens' Delhi progressively developed over the period from 1912 to 1931. This also includes the
Lutyens Bungalow Zone (LBZ).
Lutyens designed four bungalows in the Viceroy House Estate (now known as the
Rashtrapati Bhavan
The Rashtrapati Bhavan (, ISO: ''Rāṣṭrapati Bhavana''; ; formerly Viceroy's House (1931–1947) and Government House (1947–1950)) is the official residence of the President of the Republic of India at the western end of Rajpath, Rai ...
Estate); today, these bungalows lie on the
Mother Teresa
Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu (born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, ; 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), better known as Mother Teresa or Saint Mother Teresa, was an Albanian-Indian Catholic Church, Roman Catholic nun, founder of the Missionaries of ...
Crescent (then Willingdon Crescent). Lutyens, apart from designing the
Viceroy's House, spearheaded the design and oversaw construction of large government buildings and was involved in town planning too.
Herbert Baker
Sir Herbert Baker (9 June 1862 – 4 February 1946) was an English architect remembered as the dominant force in South African architecture for two decades, and a major designer of some of New Delhi's most notable government structures. He was ...
, who also designed with the
Secretariat Buildings, designed bungalows on the then King George's Avenue (south of the Secretariats) for high-ranking officials of the
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...
. Other members of the team of architects were
Robert Tor Russell, who built
Connaught Place, the Eastern and Western Courts on
Janpath,
Teen Murti House (formerly called Flagstaff House),
Safdarjung Airport (formerly Willingdon Airfield), Irwin Amphitheatre (renamed
Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium
The Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, commonly known by its former name National Stadium, is a field hockey stadium in New Delhi, India. The stadium is named after former Indian field hockey player, Dhyan Chand. It served as the venue for th ...
) and several government houses, William Henry Nicholls, CG Blomfield, FB Blomfield,
Walter Sykes George
Sir Walter Sykes George Order of the British Empire, C.B.E. (1881 – 7 January 1962) was an English architect active in India during the first half of the 20th century, most known for being part of the team of architects who designed New Delhi ...
,
Arthur Gordon Shoosmith and
Henry Medd.
It was included in the
2002 World Monuments Watch list of the 100 Most Endangered Sites, curated by the
World Monuments Fund, a heritage organization headquartered in New York.
History
The area was constructed following the decision of the
imperial British administration to relocate the capital of the
Indian Empire from
Calcutta
Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...
to Delhi, thereby heralding the conception of a new district of the latter entitled New Delhi.
Before the new imperial capital was established in 1911, the
Delhi Junction Railway Station served the
Agra
Agra ( ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...
-Delhi railways: the line cut through what is today called ''Lutyens' Delhi''. The line was eventually shifted to make way for the new capital and the
New Delhi Railway Station
New Delhi railway station (station code: NDLS) is the primary railway hub for the Indian capital, New Delhi, and an integral part of Indian Railways. Situated in Central Delhi, approximately 2 kilometers north of Connaught Place, the station ...
was constructed near the Mughal-era
Ajmeri Gate in 1926.
Design and construction

Lutyens led a group of architects in chiseling the central administrative area of the city, with the mandate of retaining one-third of the area as green space. At the heart of the city was the imposing Viceroy's House (which now serves as the
Indian President's primary residence and is referred to as the
Rashtrapati Bhawan), the seat of the
Governor General of India, located atop the
Raisina Hill
Raisina Hill (ISO: ''Rāyasīnā kī Pahāṛī''), often used as a metonym for the seat of the Government of India, is an area of New Delhi, housing India's most important government buildings, including Rashtrapati Bhavan, the official reside ...
. The Kingsway (now known as the
Rajpath) boulevard connects
India Gate
The India Gate (formerly known as All India War Memorial) is a war memorial located near the Rajpath (officially called Kartavya Path, Kartavya path) on the eastern edge of the "ceremonial axis" of New Delhi, India, New Delhi. It stands as a m ...
(formerly known as All India War Memorial) to Rashtrapati Bhawan, while
Janpath (formerly Queensway), which intersects it orthogonally, connects South End Road (renamed to Rajesh Pilot Marg) with
Connaught Place.
The
Secretariat Building, which houses various ministries of the
Government of India
The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...
, including the
Prime Minister's Office, straddles the Rashtrapati Bhawan and was designed by
Herbert Baker
Sir Herbert Baker (9 June 1862 – 4 February 1946) was an English architect remembered as the dominant force in South African architecture for two decades, and a major designer of some of New Delhi's most notable government structures. He was ...
. Also designed by Baker was the
Parliament House (previously known as the Council House), which is located on
Sansad Marg, and runs parallel to the Rajpath. Two magnificent cathedrals in the area, the Anglican
Cathedral Church of the Redemption and Catholic
Sacred Heart Cathedral, were designed by
Henry Medd.
Lutyens Bungalow Zone
The
Lutyens Bungalow Zone covers an area spanning approximately 26 km
2. All land and buildings in the LBZ belong to the
Union Government, except for that are privately-owned. It is an illustrious and opulent enclave in New Delhi. There are about 1000 bungalows in the LBZ, of which less than ten percent are in private hands.
In furtherance of establishing development control norms, the
Ministry of Urban Development Ministry of Urban Development may refer to:
* Ministry of Urban Development (Albania)
*Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, India, formerly the Ministry of Urban Development
* Ministry of Urban Development (Maharashtra), India
*Ministry of Urban D ...
constituted the New Delhi Redevelopment Advisory Committee (NDRAC) in 1972 when the redevelopment of the areas around the
walled city, north of
Connaught Place and on Prithviraj Road, was taken up.
Land prices
In 2013, it was reported that the market value of the of land in private hands in the LBZ increased eightfold in the previous ten years, from around to .
In June 2014, Rajiv Rattan, the co-founder of the Indian conglomerate
Indiabulls, purchased a plot for .
In December 2016, Renuka Talwar, daughter of
DLF chairman
KP Singh, acquired a bungalow on Prithviraj Road for which was dubbed one of the biggest property deals in Lutyens' Delhi.
Contiguous areas
In the vicinity of the vast green expanse of the LBZ is a thick swathe of green, a glacis of trees, manicured lawns, and grand buildings, that afford an impregnable environmental cushion to the LBZ from the swirl and swarm of Delhi's congestion: to the west is the vast, ancient wooded area of the
Delhi Ridge, adjoining the grand acres of the
Presidential Estate; to the west and south is
Nehru Park, the Race Course, an Indian Air Force station, the
Delhi Gymkhana Club,
Safdarjung Airport, the mid-eighteenth century
Safdarjang Tomb, and the Diplomatic Enclave; to the south is the
Lodi Gardens
Lodi Gardens is a city park situated in New Delhi. Spread over , it contains Muhammad Shah IV, Muhammad Shah's tomb, the tomb of Sikandar Lodi, the Shisha Gumbad and the Bara Gumbad. These monuments date from the late Delhi Sultanate, during the ...
, with its baroque and imposing
Lodhi-era tombs, and imperial remnants; to the southeast are great lavishly tended greens of
Delhi Golf Club, with its Mughal-era ruins; beyond the Golf course, hemming the edges of the LBZ, is the green stretch of the
National Zoological Park, lakes, the
Purana Qila, and the
Humayun's Tomb
Humayun's tomb (Persian language, Persian: ''Maqbara-i Humayun'') is the tomb of Emperor of Hindustan, Emperor Mirza Nasir al-Din Muhammad commonly known as Humayun situated in Delhi, India. The tomb was commissioned by Humayun's first wife and ...
. The contiguous areas are lavished with as much preponderance of care by the government as is devoted to the LBZ. Those priced out the exorbitant realty prices in the LBZ purchase real estate in the contiguous areas like Jor Bagh, where property prices are almost as steep as in the LBZ.
Notable residents
The official residence of the
Prime Minister of India
The prime minister of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Union Council of Ministers, Council of Ministers, despite the president of ...
is at
7, Lok Kalyan Marg
7, Lok Kalyan Marg , formerly 7, Race Course Road, is the official residence and principal workplace of the Prime Minister of India. Situated on '' Lok Kalyan Marg'', New Delhi, the official name of the Prime Minister's residence complex is '' ...
; the road, designed off-limits to civilians and ordinary traffic, spans a complex of five bungalows, spread over . The former Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh (26 September 1932 – 26 December 2024) was an Indian economist, bureaucrat, academician, and statesman, who served as the prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He was the fourth longest-serving prime minister after Jaw ...
also resided in the LBZ.
He was allotted a Type VIII bungalow at 3 Motilal Nehru Marg (formerly known as York Road), which was previously occupied by the
Chief Minister of Delhi,
Sheila Dikshit, on 27 February 2014 by
Kamal Nath
Kamal Nath (born 18 November 1946; ) is an Indian politician who served as the List of chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh, 18th Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh for approximately 15 months and resigned after a 2020 Madhya Pradesh political crisis ...
, the
Union Minister of Urban Development, on account of his being a
Rajya Sabha
Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...
MP from Assam.
Sonia Gandhi
Sonia Gandhi (, ; ; born 9 December 1946) is an Indian politician. She is the longest-serving president of the Indian National Congress, a big-tent liberal political party, which has governed India for most of its post-independence history. ...
and
Rahul Gandhi
Rahul Rajiv Gandhi (; born 19 June 1970) is an Indian politician. A member of the Indian National Congress (INC), he is currently serving as the 12th leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha and as the member of the Lok Sabha for Rae Bareli Lok ...
are some of the other prominent politicians who lived at
10, Janpath. Former prime ministers who are not Members of Parliament are not entitled to a government bungalow; however,
Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Atal Bihari Vajpayee (25 December 1924 – 16 August 2018) was an Indian poet, writer and statesman who served as the prime minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months from 1998 ...
, another former Prime Minister who did not serve as a constituent of either houses of the Indian Parliament, resided in a bungalow on Krishna Menon Marg from 2005 until his death in 2018.
Notable businessmen include
Laxmi N Mittal,
KP Singh,
Sunil Mittal,
C. K. Birla,
Shashi Ruia,
Ravi Ruia
Ravi may refer to:
People
* Ravi (name), including a list of people and characters with the name
* Ravi (composer) (1926–2012), Indian music director
* Ravi (Ivar Johansen) (born 1976), Norwegian musical artist
* Ravi (rapper) (born 1993), a ...
,
Analjit Singh,
Vijay Shekhar Sharma
Vijay Shekhar Sharma (born 7 June 1978) is an Indian technology entrepreneur, and the founder and chief executive officer of One97 Communications and its consumer brand Paytm.
In January 2022, the ICANN-supported Universal Acceptance Steering ...
and
Atul Punj.
Gallery
File:SansadBhavan.jpg, Parliament House
File:India Gate-5.jpg, India Gate
The India Gate (formerly known as All India War Memorial) is a war memorial located near the Rajpath (officially called Kartavya Path, Kartavya path) on the eastern edge of the "ceremonial axis" of New Delhi, India, New Delhi. It stands as a m ...
File:Jaipur House.jpg, Jaipur House, which houses the National Gallery of Modern Art
See also
*
Beaux-Arts architecture
Beaux-Arts architecture ( , ) was the academic architectural style taught at the in Paris, particularly from the 1830s to the end of the 19th century. It drew upon the principles of French neoclassicism, but also incorporated Renaissance and ...
*
Chanakyapuri
Chanakyapuri () is a neighbourhood and diplomatic enclave established in the 1950s in New Delhi, India. It is also a sub-division of the New Delhi district and plays host to the majority of foreign Embassy, embassies in New Delhi. Chanakyapuri, ...
*
Sunehri Bagh Masjid
References
External links
Architecture: Amnesty Plan for Relics of the Raj ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''. 30 December 2007.
*
Edwin Lutyens, New Delhi The Lutyens Trust.
* ''Dome Over India'', by
Aman Nath. Published by India Book House, 2006. .
{{Neighborhoods of Delhi
New Delhi
Works of Edwin Lutyens in India
History of Delhi
Neighbourhoods in Delhi
Tourist attractions in Delhi
20th century in Delhi
20th century in British India
British colonial architecture in India