The Raj Bhavan of

Puri Puri () is a coastal city and a Nagar Palika, municipality in the state of Odisha in eastern India. It is the district headquarters of Puri district and is situated on the Bay of Bengal, south of the state capital of Bhubaneswar. It is als ...

in the Indian state of Odisha, is an official residence of the governor of Odisha. it was originally built as a summer residence for the erstwhile lieutenant-governor of the Province of Bihar and Odisha under the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

Location

The building is located adjacent to the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line between ...

in Puri, about from

Cuttack Cuttack (, or officially Kataka ) in Odia is the former capital and the second largest city in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised form of ''Kataka'' which literall ...

, the former capital of Odisha and from the current capital,

Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. The region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Ekamra Kshetra'' (area (''kshetra'') adorned with mango trees (''ekamra'')). Bhubaneswar is ...

History

Constructed in 1913–14, the original grounds covered an area of . The residence was subsequently used by British governors to escape the summer heat in

Patna Patna ( ), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...

, which was then the capital of Bihar and Odisha. After Odisha became a separate province in 1936, the building became the residence of the state Governor of Odisha. However, because of the distance from the capital the residence shifted there in 1942. While the new residence in Cuttack was under construction, the Raj Bhavan at Puri underwent remodelling at a cost of Rs. 158,000 to "make it suitable and comfortable for the imperial dignity of His Majesty's representatives in India" with improvements including rewiring, updating of the plumbing system and the creation of a garden. The building remained in use as the summer residence for governors until 1973, then in 1983 part of the grounds were sold off for the construction of a hotel to boost state tourism.

References

External links

Governors' houses in India Government of Odisha Puri 1914 establishments in British India Buildings and structures in Odisha Houses completed in 1914 {{Puri-geo-stub