What are some unknown amazing facts about Rashtrapati Bhawan, Delhi?

1. It is the second largest presidential palace or the official residence of the head of state in the world.

2. The Presidential Bhavan or Rashtrapati Bhavan was formerly used by the Viceroy of India, the former head of the state of the country.

3. The construction of the Bhavan was started in 1912 and completed in 1929, took 17 years to be completed.

4. The Rashtrapati Bhavan has more than 300 rooms including the presidential office, guest rooms, and staff rooms.

5. Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens was the archiect of the Presidential Palace or Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi.

6. Rashtrapati Bhavan was formerly known as the Viceroy’s House before the Indian Independence.

7. The Rashtrapati Bhavan has been built using 700 million bricks and 3 million cubic feet of stones.

8. It is the largest residence in India.

9. The Mughal Gardens, behind the Rashtrapati Bhavan are open to the general public each year in February.

10. In the Rashtrapati Bhavan, a ceremonial ‘Change of Guard’ happenes every Saturday at 10 am. It is a 30 minute ceremony, open for all. To attend the ceremony, you just need to produce your photo ID to get entry.

11. Surprisingly, more than 29,000 people worked in the construction of the site.

12. The Presidential Palace or Rashtrapati Bhavan has two galleries for children. One is ‘By the Children’ to showcase the work of children and another is ‘For the Children’, to display variety of items that would interest children.

13. According to news reports, the Government of India spent more than Rs. 100 crore for the maintance of the presidential palace i.e. Rashtrapati Bhavan in 2007.

14. FYI, Rashtrapati Bhavan has a strength of 750 staff.