Books to bring out splendour of Rashtrapati Bhavan
The project includes two additional volumes on the performing arts at the Rashtrapati Bhavan and two books for children.
New Delhi: A series of 11 glossy books, all extensively researched and containing splendid photographs, reveal the story of Rashtrapati Bhavan, the 340-room resplendent official residence of the President of India and one of the greatest architectural projects of modern times carried out by legendary British architect Sir Edwin Lutyens.
The volumes of books, aimed at bringing to life the historical, architectural, and cultural aspects of the President’s Estate, have been put together over a period of three years by Sahapedia, an open online resource on the arts, cultures and heritage of India.
The multi-volume documentation project of the Rashtrapati Bhavan Series was commissioned by the President’s Secretariat in collaboration with the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), the country’s premier cultural body.
Among the volumes is The Right of the Line: The President’s Bodyguard, which presents an engaging picture of the President’s bodyguard, the elite household cavalry unit which is the most senior and oldest regiment of the Army.
One of the most enduring and spectacular images in public imagination is of the President being escorted during the Republic Day parade by the bodyguards, all decked up in majestic ceremonial livery and sporting gleaming weapons.
Sahapedia project manager Yashaswini Chandra, who helped put together the volumes along with eminent researchers, said: “This is the first time that a project of this scale has been executed. Based on rigorous research and illustration, we had academics and researchers from India and abroad working on the books. Right from the commissioning of authors, researching and writing, and ensuring an overall standard, we have been behind it all.”
Other books in the series include details about the architecture and landscape, the arts and interiors of the grand colonial building, gardens and grounds, and dining and entertainment at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The project includes two additional volumes on the performing arts at the Rashtrapati Bhavan and two books for children.
The final volume to be brought out under the series explores “Life at Rashtrapati Bhavan”. Generous illustrations and photographs accompany the texts. The information obtained is all from primary sources aided by archival research.
Published by the Publications Division of India, all the books are available in print. Later in the year, multimedia volumes based on the series will feature on the Sahapedia website.