Celebrate Our Independence in a different way this year – plan a visit to the new Rashtrapati Bhavan Museum!
By Chitra Sarkar (011-26278186)
At the end of July one of our tallest Presidents demitted office. Although Shri Pranab Mukherjee was physically short in stature, he represented us on the world stage with gracious dignity, and rose above partisan politics to preserve the national interest. Among his many gifts to the Indian people is the new Rashtrapati Bhavan Museum complex, created in the former Viceroys’ garage. Today, you can walk through the space that once housed the famous Viceregal carriage, and marvel at our journey from the Mahajanapads (ancient city Republics) of the first millennium BC to the Indian Republic of the 21st century.
The museum was inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi on 25th July 2016, and opened its doors to its first public visitors on 2nd October 2016. It took about two years to complete and cost around ₹80 crores.
A visitor to the Museum will follow a poignant route through our recent political history. A replica to the Ashoka Pillar will greet you at the entrance. It is flanked by the Viceroy’s buggy, complete with a life-size black horse, and the first Mercedes that replaced the horse-drawn carriage. Realistic tableaux retrace our freedom struggle, from the partition of Bengal and the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, to unfurling the flag and the call for Purna Swaraj, to the pain to Partition and the joy of Independence. Young children, especially, will appreciate this easy- to- understand display of history.
An entire corridor is devoted to Edwin Lutyens, including his original drawings for Rashtrapati Bhavan. Poke a little gentle fun at the great architect’s obsession with his round spectacles.
The basement houses a fascinating collection of Rashtrapati Bhavan crockery, from the Viceroy’s Star of India pattern to the modern Ashok Pillar emblem, along with unique utensils which trace the evolution of cooking in the last hundred years. Wander past display cases containing the personal possessions of former Presidents. You will surely stop to look twice at the Spartan belongings of President APJ Abdul Kalam. Then there are the many and fascinating gifts given to our Heads of State, as well as Rashtrapati Bhavan’s collection of original paintings; the oldest, a pair of portraits of Louis the XVI and his Queen, captured from the French at Chandernagore. At the very core of the museum, in the centre of the second basement, stand marble statues of the once-King Emperor, George V and Queen Mary, shorn of their former splendor.
The museum houses many high-tech marvels, to delight a youngster of today. A visit here is meant to be a sensory experience. Greet Gandhiji when he emerges from his meeting with Lord Irwin, and walk with him in the forecourt. See yourself smile, wave and do a namaskar. Watch a multimedia presentation on the inner workings of Rashtrapati Bhavan, and even call on the President in his (virtual) meeting room. At the end of your tour, you can create a very special souvenir for yourself – a set of real, usuable postage stamps with your own photograph documenting your trip to this historic site.
By Chitra Sarkar (011-26278186)
At the end of July one of our tallest Presidents demitted office. Although Shri Pranab Mukherjee was physically short in stature, he represented us on the world stage with gracious dignity, and rose above partisan politics to preserve the national interest. Among his many gifts to the Indian people is the new Rashtrapati Bhavan Museum complex, created in the former Viceroys’ garage. Today, you can walk through the space that once housed the famous Viceregal carriage, and marvel at our journey from the Mahajanapads (ancient city Republics) of the first millennium BC to the Indian Republic of the 21st century.
The museum was inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi on 25th July 2016, and opened its doors to its first public visitors on 2nd October 2016. It took about two years to complete and cost around ₹80 crores.
A visitor to the Museum will follow a poignant route through our recent political history. A replica to the Ashoka Pillar will greet you at the entrance. It is flanked by the Viceroy’s buggy, complete with a life-size black horse, and the first Mercedes that replaced the horse-drawn carriage. Realistic tableaux retrace our freedom struggle, from the partition of Bengal and the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, to unfurling the flag and the call for Purna Swaraj, to the pain to Partition and the joy of Independence. Young children, especially, will appreciate this easy- to- understand display of history.
An entire corridor is devoted to Edwin Lutyens, including his original drawings for Rashtrapati Bhavan. Poke a little gentle fun at the great architect’s obsession with his round spectacles.
The basement houses a fascinating collection of Rashtrapati Bhavan crockery, from the Viceroy’s Star of India pattern to the modern Ashok Pillar emblem, along with unique utensils which trace the evolution of cooking in the last hundred years. Wander past display cases containing the personal possessions of former Presidents. You will surely stop to look twice at the Spartan belongings of President APJ Abdul Kalam. Then there are the many and fascinating gifts given to our Heads of State, as well as Rashtrapati Bhavan’s collection of original paintings; the oldest, a pair of portraits of Louis the XVI and his Queen, captured from the French at Chandernagore. At the very core of the museum, in the centre of the second basement, stand marble statues of the once-King Emperor, George V and Queen Mary, shorn of their former splendor.
The museum houses many high-tech marvels, to delight a youngster of today. A visit here is meant to be a sensory experience. Greet Gandhiji when he emerges from his meeting with Lord Irwin, and walk with him in the forecourt. See yourself smile, wave and do a namaskar. Watch a multimedia presentation on the inner workings of Rashtrapati Bhavan, and even call on the President in his (virtual) meeting room. At the end of your tour, you can create a very special souvenir for yourself – a set of real, usuable postage stamps with your own photograph documenting your trip to this historic site.
