Presidential palace to reopen for public from Aug 1
Darpan News Desk IANS, 23 Jul, 2021 03:46 PM
New Delhi, July 23 (IANS) With the number of Covid-19 cases come down in the national capital, the Rashtrapati Bhavan has decided to reopen its complex and museum for the common citizens from August 1 onwards.
"Visit to Rashtrapati Bhavan and Rashtrapati Bhavan Museum Complex, which were closed since April 14, 2021 due to Covid-19, will reopen from August 1, 2021 for the public," the Rashtrapati Bhavan said in a statement.
Tour of Rashtrapati Bhavan will be available on Saturday and Sunday, except on holidays, in three pre-booked time slots -- 10:30-11:30 am , 12:30-1:30 pm and 2:30-3:30 pm with a maximum limit of 25 visitors per slot.
The Rashtrapati Bhavan said that its museum complex will remain open for six days a week -- except on holidays -- in four pre-booked time slots: 9:30-11 am, 11:30 am-1 pm, 1:30 pm-3 pm and 3:30 pm-5 pm with a maximum limit of 50 visitors per slot.
The Rashtrapati Bhavan, home to the President of the world's largest democracy, epitomises India's strength, its democratic traditions and secular character.
It was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker, both architects of exceptional imagination and masterfulness.
It was Lutyens who had conceptualised the 'H' shaped building, covering an area of 5 acres on a 330-acre estate. The mansion has a total of 340 rooms spread over four floors, 2.5 km of corridors and 190 acres of garden area.
Painstaking efforts of thousands of labourers, including masons, carpenters, artists, carvers and cutters, saw the completion of this masterwork in the year 1929.
Originally built as the residence for the Viceroy of India, the Viceroy's House, as it was called then, has metamorphosed into today's Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Jitendra Singh convicted Delhi resident Mayank Singh under Indian Penal Code Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant).
The state government has initiated preparations on a mass scale, especially in the holy city of Sultanpur Lodhi where the first Sikh Guru had attained enlightenment and spent almost 17 years of his life.
On a foggy and rainy evening on Wednesday, yoga postures were projected on the North Facade of the UN Headquarters Building during a special ceremony attended by India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin
From Colombo to Kabul and Nairobi to New York, high-profile politicians and the hoi polloi came out in large numbers to showcase their yoga postures and send a message of unity on the occasion of the fifth International Yoga Day on Friday.
