Rashtrapati Nilayam (literally the "President's House") formerly known as Residency House is the official retreat of the President of India located in Hyderabad, Telangana,[1] where the President stays for at least two weeks during winter and conducts official business.[2] It is also used as a guest house for visiting dignitaries. It is located in Bolaram in Secunderabad, a neighborhood of Hyderabad. It is open for public viewing for several days in early January annually.[3]
History
Originally called the Residency House, it was constructed in 1850 by NizamNazir-ud-Dowla.[4] It became the country house of the British Resident at Secunderabad. After the Hyderabad state's integration into Indian Union (Read Operation Polo) in 1948, it became the President's retreat and used as the Southern Sojourn.[5][6]
The 16-room estate is spread over an area of 90 acres (360,000 m2), consisting of single storied building besides a visitors' quarters that can accommodate 150 people. It has a Dining Hall, Durbar Hall, Morning Room, Cinema Hall, etc. A unique aspect of this Rashtrapati Nilayam is that the kitchen and dining hall are independent buildings connected with a tunnel to serve food.
Rashtrapati Nilayam (Residency House), c. 1892, Photo: Lala Deen Dayal
The retreat's premises include a landscaped garden, seasonal flowering plants and display of potted plants around the main building, natural cascading water falls and seven different types of nutrition gardens which are: Mango, Pomegranate, Guava, Amla, Coconut and Cheeku (Sapota).
Garden
The Herbal Garden, inaugurated in December 2009, of medicinal and aromatic plants is spread over 7,000 sq metres, has about 116 species of medicinal and aromatic plants including sarpagandha, kalabandha, citronella, lemon grass, khus, geranium, coriander, sandalwood, tuber rose, jasmine, kalmegh, tulsi etc. The garden was built by Central Public Works Department and the Telangana Medicinal Plants Board, while Rashtrapati Bhavan and National Medicinal Plants Board funded the project.
