Rashtrapati Bhavan, the official residence of the President of India, is an imposing edifice located at the west end of the Rajpath in New Delhi with the India gate at the opposite end. Designed by Edwin Landseer Lutyens, this palatial building was the erstwhile residence of the British Viceroy. Few official residential premises of the State Heads in the world will match the Rashtrapati Bhavan in terms of its size, vastness and its magnificence. The decision to build a residence in New Delhi for the British Viceroy was taken after it was decided that the capital of India would be shifted from Calcutta (Kolkata) to Delhi. It was constructed to affirm the permanence of British rule in India and the building and its surroundings were supposed to be 'an empire in stone'. That 'empire in stone' and the perpetual Durbar was transformed to be the permanent institution of democracy on 26 th  January 1950 when  Dr.  Rajendra Prasad became the first President of India and oc...