Rashtrapati Ashiana is an official retreat of the

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murmu ...

located in

Dehradun Dehradun () is the capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and is governed by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, with the Uttarakhand Legislative As ...

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

. Established as a summer camp for horses in the Governor General's Bodyguard, the Ashiana was built in 1920 as the residence of the unit's commandant. Developed into a presidential retreat during the presidency of Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, it fell into disuse after 1998. Ashiana was renovated and an annexe built during the presidency of

Pranab Mukherjee Dr. Pranab Mukherjee (11 December 193531 August 2020) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the 13th president of India from 2012 until 2017. In a political career spanning five decades, Mukherjee was a senior leader in the India ...

. It is one of three presidential retreats in India, the other two being the

Rashtrapati Nilayam Rashtrapati Nilayam (literally the "President's House") formerly known as Residency House is the official retreat of the President of India located in Hyderabad, Telangana, where the President stays for at least two weeks during winter and condu ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

and the Retreat Building in

Shimla Shimla (; ; also known as Simla, List of renamed Indian cities and states#Himachal Pradesh, the official name until 1972) is the capital and the largest city of the States and union territories of India, northern Indian state of Himachal Prade ...

History

The Rashtrapati Ashiana was originally established in 1838 as a camp for the summering of horses and remounts of the

Governor General's Bodyguard The Governor General's Bodyguard was a cavalry regiment of the British Indian Army. The regiment was, in effect, the Indian equivalent of the Household Cavalry of the British Army. History The regiment was first formed in 1773 as the Govern ...

. The horses spent the months of May to July here, shielded from the summer heat of Delhi. After India attained independence, this practice was continued by the President's Bodyguard. The Ashiana building was built as a

bungalow A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is either single-story or has a second story built into a sloping roof (usually with dormer windows), and may be surrounded by wide verandas. The first house in England that was classified as a b ...

for the Commandant of the Bodyguard in 1920 and was known as the Commandant’s Bungalow. The estate and the building were turned into a presidential retreat in 1975-76 for President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed as an alternative summer retreat to the one in Shimla. The bungalow was renamed the Rashtrapati Ashiana in 1976, the name suggested by the

first lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

Begum Abida Ahmed Begum Abida Ahmed (17 July 1923 – 7 December 2003) was an Indian politician, First Lady of India from 1974 to 1977, and the wife of the fifth President of India Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (1974–1977). She was twice member of the Lok sabha from ...

. Ashiana hosted Presidents Ahmed, Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, Zail Singh and

K. R. Narayanan Kocheril Raman Narayanan (27 October 1921 – 9 November 2005) was an Indian statesman, diplomat, academic, and politician who served as the 9th vice president of India, Vice President of India from 1992 to 1997 and 10th President of India fr ...

who stayed there in 1998. The Ashiana then fell into disuse before it was renovated and inaugurated in 2016 by President

Location and layout

The estate is located on Rajapur Road, Dehradun near the National Institute for the Visually Handicapped. It covers an area of 237

acres The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial and US customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, of a square mile, 4,840 square ya ...

and consists of the Ashiana building, the annexe complex, a

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...

and the upper and lower stables. The estate has an

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of larg ...

of litchi and

mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree ''Mangifera indica''. It is believed to have originated in the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South a ...

trees. The stables continue to be used by the President's Bodyguard for summering its weaker horses from the sweltering heat of Delhi.

Renovation

The Ashiana was

renovated Renovation (also called remodeling) is the process of improving broken, damaged, or outdated structures. Renovations are typically done on either commercial or residential buildings. Additionally, renovation can refer to making something new, ...

and inaugurated in September 2016 by President Pranab Mukherji. The building was

retrofitted Retrofitting is the addition of new technology or features to older systems. Retrofits can happen for a number of reasons, for example with big capital expenditures like naval vessels, military equipment or manufacturing plants, businesses or go ...

with seismic bands to make it earthquake resistant and the estate underwent extensive

landscaping Landscaping refers to any activity that modifies the visible features of an area of land, including the following: # Living elements, such as flora or fauna; or what is commonly called gardening, the art and craft of growing plants with a goal o ...

and renovation of its system of irrigation channels. The restoration of the Ashiana, where he became the first President to stay in 18 years, is a significant legacy of the Mukherjee presidency.

Annexe

The annexe to the Ashiana was inaugurated in 2017 by President Mukherjee. It consists of twelve low-cost housing units for officers and accompanying staff of the

Rashtrapati Bhavan The Rashtrapati Bhavan (, rāsh-truh-puh-ti bha-vun; ; originally Viceroy's House and later Government House) is the official residence of the President of India at the western end of Rajpath, Raisina Hill, New Delhi, India. Rashtrapati Bh ...

. These units have been built of compacted intermeshing blocks using an eco-friendly technology developed by the

Asian Institute of Technology The Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), founded in 1959, is an Intergovernmental organization, international organization for higher education situated 40km north of Bangkok, Thailand. It specializes in engineering, technology, advanced technol ...

References

{{reflist Buildings and structures in Dehradun Official residences in India Presidential residences in India

History

Location and layout

Renovation

Annexe

See also

References