Documenting the Rashtrapati Bhavan – A Sahapedia Project

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, (RB) 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 Indian 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.
There is a book in the series that talks about the architecture and landscape, while another explores the arts and interiors of the grand colonial building. There is the magnificent ‘First Garden of the Republic’ about the grounds and garden. There is also a tome detailing the dining and entertaining at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. The final volume to be brought out under the series explores ‘Life at Rashtrapati Bhavan’. Generous illustrations and photographs accompany the texts. The sourcing is all from primary sources aided by archival research.
Yashaswini Chandra, Project Manager, Sahapedia, who helped put together the volumes along with eminent researchers, says, “This is the first time that a project of this scale has been executed. Based on rigorous research and well illustrated, 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. It was a mammoth exercise and we are very pleased with the results.”
The project includes two additional volumes on the performing arts at Rashtrapati Bhavan and two books for children.
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.
Sahapedia, says its Executive Director Dr. Sudha Gopalakrishnan, is an online multimedia knowledge resource for the arts, culture and heritage. An image gallery and audio-visual content accompanies text on the site.
Dr. Gopalakrishnan, the founder-director of India’s National Mission for Manuscripts launched Sahapedia in April 2016. Sahapedia is headed by S Ramadorai, who heads the Nation
al Skill Development Agency.