Rashtrapati Bhavan may refer to only the 340-room main building that has the president's official residence, including reception halls, guest rooms and offices, also called the mansion; it may also refer to the entire 130-hectare (320-acre) Presidential Estate that additionally includes the presidential gardens, large open spaces, residences of bodyguards and staff, stables, other offices and utilities within its perimeter walls.

Lord Wellesley, who is reputed to have said that ‘India should be governed from a palace, not from a country house’, ordered the construction of this grand mansion between 1799 and 1803 and in 1912, the Governor of Bengal took up residence there.

[4][5] The British architect Edwin Lutyens, a major contributor to the city-planning process, was given the primary architectural responsibility.

The completed Governor-General's palace turned out very similar to the original sketches which Lutyens sent Herbert Baker, from Shimla, on 14 June 1912.

Lutyens wanted to make a long inclined grade to Viceroy's House with retaining walls on either side.

[10] The design of the building fell into the period of the Edwardian Baroque, a time at which emphasis was placed on the use of heavy classical motifs to emphasise power.

In the post-Mutiny era, however, it was decided that sensitivity must be shown to the local surroundings to better integrate the building within its political context, and after much political debate, Lutyens conceded to incorporating local Indo-Saracenic motifs, albeit in a rather superficial decoration form on the skin of the building.

These included several circular stone basins on top of the building, as water features are an important part of Indian architecture.

There was also a traditional Indian chujja or chhajja, which occupied the place of a frieze in classical architecture; it was a sharp, thin, protruding element which extended 8 feet (2.4 m) from the building, and created deep shadows.

[11] The column has a "distinctly peculiar crown on top, a glass star springing out of bronze lotus blossom".

This can be seen in the Dehli Order, and in the main dome, where the drum below has decoration recalling the railings around early Buddhist stupas such as Sanchi.

[17] Lutyens added several small personal elements to the house, such as an area in the garden walls and two ventilator windows on the stateroom to look like the glasses which he wore.

Since Indian Independence, a single high chair for the President is kept here under a Belgian glass chandelier hanging from a height of 33 m. The flooring of the hall is made of chocolate-coloured Italian marble.

The columns in Gantantra Mandap are made in Delhi Order which combines vertical lines with the motif of a bell.

[22] Gantantra Mandap has a capacity of 500 people and it is here in this building that Jawaharlal Nehru took the oath of office of Prime Minister from Lord Mountbatten at 8.30 am on 15 August 1947.

The Persian painting on its ceiling depicts a royal hunting expedition led by King Fateh Ali Shah of Persia[clarification needed].

Formerly known as the Mughal Gardens, it was rechristened by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union Government to Amrit Udyan in January 2023 after the new name was proposed by President Draupadi Murmu as part of the 75th Anniversary of Indian Independence celebrations.

[25][26] The garden incorporates both Mughal and English landscaping styles and feature a great variety of flowers and trees.

There is a red sandstone pergola in the centre over the central pavement which is covered with Rose creepers, Petrea, Bougainvillea and vines.

The walls are covered with creepers like jasmine, Rhynchospermum, Tecoma Grandiflora, Bignonia Vanista, Adenoclyma, Echitice, Parana Paniculata.

The museum helps visitors to get an inside view of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, its art, architecture and get educated about lives of past presidents.