Rashtrapti Bhavan (President House/Presidential Palace) happens to be the official residence of the President of India, located in the national capital of India, New Delhi. The building enormous in size happened to be the residence of the Viceroy of the British India and till 1950 was known as the "Viceroy's House". It was decided in the year 1911, during the Delhi Durbar, when the glory of the Brtitish Empire was at its height that the capital of India would be shifted from Calcutta to Delhi. The decision thus being taken a need for the residence of the then Governor-General or Viceroy was largey felt, and was given an enormous scale and prominent position. For the completion of the purpose the noteworthy British architect Edwin Landseer Lutyens, being a notable member of the planning process of the city was conferred the primary architectural opportunity of the designing of the sprawling structure.
From the very initiation it was decided that the Viceroy's House would be an assortment of the styles adhering to both the Western and Oriental traditions. However there were some who wanted to fabricate the structure according to the grand Greek style as an apparent emblem of the dominance of the Western Civilization in India. Though there were others to whom the creation according to the Indian architecture was of most vital importance. The Viceroy declared that the palace was to be classical, but with an Indian motif. This was what the design eventually developed into. By the year 1929 the Viceregal Lodge was largely completed and along with it also the rest of the New Delhi. It was officially inaugurated in the year 1931. It is a mere twist of fate, to mention, that the building which was completed in seventeen years and on the eighteenth year of its completion India became independent.
With the proclamation of the Indian independence in the year 1947, it was the turn of the then ceremonial governor-general to live there. He was succeeded by the Hon'ble President of India in the year 1950 when India became a republic. On that year the house was renamed and came to be known as the "Rashtrapati Bhavan."
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RASHTRAPATI BHAVAN
