Keep a little mystery in your trip planning: Explorer Picture Mode shows a stylized version of every place instead of the real photo, so you can go by the description and reviews first and picture it your own way -- reveal the real photo any time by flipping the switch off, or just for one place at a time from its own page.
Create a free account to pick your own style (Vintage, Oil Painting, Black & White) and have it remembered next time you visit.
Built between 1921 and 1929, this palatial structure, designed as the Viceroy's official residence but now home to the Indian President, incorporates its distinctly British style Indo-Islamic, and Buddhist design elements. The most visible feature is the drum-mounted Buddhist-style dome. The building contains 340 rooms and is built on 330 acres of land, including a private garden. Classical columns with bells carved into them grace the front entrance. The apparent symbolism behind this is that Lutyens felt the bells being silent meant that British rule would never end.
Rashtrapati Bhavan is flanked by the two Secretariat buildings, which are now the Finance and External Affairs ministries' headquarters. Though the palace's inside is not open to the public, the Mughal Gardens within are on display in February each year. Quadrants divided by waterways and fountains, tennis courts, a swimming pool, and butterfly enclosures make up this leisure space modeled on Mughal parks.