Rashtrapati Bhavan
official residence of the President of India
The Rashtrapati Bhavan (, ISO: Rāṣṭrapati Bhavana; lit. 'President's House'), formerly Viceroy's House (1931–1947) and Government House (1947–1950) is the official residence of the President of India, located at the western end of Rajpath, Raisina Hill in New Delhi.
The building was designed by Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker in Delhi Order based on Indo-Saracenic architecture. The construction began in 1912 and the building was completed in 1929. The building, initially known as Viceroy's House, housed the Viceroy of India from 1931 until India's independence. After Independence, it briefly served as the Government House, housing the Governor General of India from 1947 to 1950. When India became a Republic, it became the official residence of the President of India and was renamed as the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The main building is spread across four floors and a basement, consisting of 340 rooms and featuring a total of 2.50-kilometre-long corridors, spread across a floor area of 200,000 square metres (2,200,000 sq ft), including the President's official residence, reception halls, guest rooms and offices. It is situated in a 320 acres (130 hectares) presidential estate that includes gardens, open spaces, residences for security and staff, stables, offices and other utilities. With over 200,000 square metres (2,200,000 sq ft) of total usable floor area of the H-shaped main building, the Rashtrapati Bhavan is the largest official residence by total floor area of any head of state in the world, followed by, the Istana Nurul Iman in Brunei and the Quirinal Palace in Italy.
The Indian president has other residences across India including the Rashtrapati Niketan in Dehradun, the Rashtrapati Nilayam in Hyderabad, and the Rashtrapati Niwas in Shimla.
The public source identifies “Rashtrapati Bhavan” as official residence of the President of India. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Rashtrapati, Bhavan and official.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Rashtrapati Bhavan”, the useful work is to connect “official residence of the President of India” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q677555. VIAF identifies the subject as 172861878. The Library of Congress control number is sh2002012438. Authority coordinates are 28.614, 77.200. 5 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1931, 1947, 1950 and 1912.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Rashtrapati Bhavan”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Rashtrapati Bhavan primary sources, Rashtrapati Bhavan archive and Rashtrapati research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Rashtrapati Bhavan”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Rashtrapati Bhavan” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.