The Rashtrapati Niwas (), formerly known as Viceregal Lodge is located on the Observatory Hills of

Shimla Shimla, also known as Simla ( the official name until 1972), is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared the summer capital of British India. After independence, the city ...

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It was formerly the residence of the British

Viceroy of India The governor-general of India (1833 to 1950, from 1858 to 1947 the viceroy and governor-general of India, commonly shortened to viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom in their capacity as the Emperor of ...

. It houses some of the most ancient articles and photographs going back to the times of the

British rule in India 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 ...

. The Viceregal Lodge was designed by British architect

Henry Irwin Henry Irwin (24 January 1841 – 5 August 1922) was an architect of British India. He is mainly known for his works in Indo-Saracenic style of architecture. He was a member of the Institution of Engineers (India), Institution of Engineers. He ...

and built in the

Jacobethan The Jacobethan ( ) architectural style, also known as Jacobean Revival, is the mixed national Renaissance revival style that was made popular in England from the late 1820s, which derived most of its inspiration and its repertory from the Engli ...

style during

Lord Dufferin Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava, (21 June 182612 February 1902), was a British public servant and prominent member of Victorian society. In his youth he was a popular figure in the court of Queen Victoria, ...

’s tenure as Viceroy. Its construction started in 1880 and was completed in 1888. Lord Dufferin occupied the lodge on 23 July 1888.A stitch in time: Rashtrapati Niwas in Shimla is being given a facelift by the ASI

The Tribune ''The Tribune'' or ''Tribune'' is the name of various newspapers: United States Daily California *''Oakland Tribune'' * ''The Tribune'' (San Luis Obispo) * ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' *''San Gabriel Valley Tribune'' Indiana *''Kokomo Tribune' ...

, 24 July 2005. Retrieved on 2007-02-18. The final cost of project was around 38

lakh A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2, 2, 3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. F ...

(3,800,000)

rupees Rupee (, ) is the common name for the currencies of India, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka, and of former currencies of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (as the Gulf rupee), British East Afr ...

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 , but today is reduced to . The structure draws inspiration from the architectural style of the

English Renaissance The English Renaissance was a Cultural movement, cultural and Art movement, artistic movement in England during the late 15th, 16th and early 17th centuries. It is associated with the pan-European Renaissance that is usually regarded as beginni ...

, and also reflects elements of the castles of the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands (; , ) is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Scottish Lowlands, Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Scots language, Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gae ...

. 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 Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

, and was supplemented by local cedar wood and walnut.

History

The

Simla Conference The Simla Conference was a meeting between Lord Wavell, the viceroy of India, and the major political leaders of British India at the Viceregal Lodge in June 1945 in Simla. When it was clear that British intended to leave India, they despe ...

convened by

Lord Wavell Field Marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Archibald Percival Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell, (5 May 1883 – 24 May 1950) was a senior officer of the British Army. He served in the Second Boer War, the Bazar Valley Campaign and the First World Wa ...

in 1945 to approve the Wavell Plan for Indian Self Government was hosted at this estate. The summer capital of

was of little use to the

President of India The president of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) 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, and the commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the Indian Armed ...

who visited it only for a few days in the year, if at all. Professor S. Radhakrishnan thought of putting it to academic use. The Rashtrapati Niwas Estate was transferred to the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

to be handed over to the

Indian Institute of Advanced Study The Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS) is a research institute located in Shimla, India. It was set up by the Ministry of Education, Government of India in 1964 and started functioning from 20 October 1965. History and establishment The ...

. The C.P.W.D., the

Himachal Pradesh High Court The Himachal Pradesh High Court is the High Court of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Himachal Pradesh was born as a result of integration of twenty six Province and four Punjab hill States into a Centrally Administered Area ...

, and the

Himachal Pradesh University Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) is a Public university, public State university (India), state university at Summer Hill, Shimla, Summer Hill, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. It was established on 22 July 1970 by ''The Himachal Pradesh University A ...

were allowed in due course to use some of its buildings but the bulk of the Estate, including its well kept lawns and rich

greenhouse A greenhouse is a structure that is designed to regulate the temperature and humidity of the environment inside. There are different types of greenhouses, but they all have large areas covered with transparent materials that let sunlight pass an ...

, has remained in use for the Indian Institute of Advanced Study.

History

References

See also