Rashtrapati Nilayam, which is literally called as the House of President and originally known as Residency House is an official building of British architectural style.
Residency House is the official retreat of the President of India. This administrative building is located in Bolarum of Secunderabad, which is now located in the newly formed state with the capital named Hyderabad for ten years span, Telangana.
The President of India stays for at least once a year and conducts official business in South India. It is also used as a guest house for visiting dignitaries.
Rashtrapati Nilayam was thrown open for public viewing from 1 January 2010 to 10 January 2010, with entry being fee.
Once this building of architectural elegance, Rashtrapati Nilayam was originally the Residencial House of Nizams. This building was constructed in 1860 by Nizam Nazir-ud-Dowla, one of the Nizams of Hyderabad.
Later, during the time of British colonial rule in India, Rashtrapati Nilayam acted as the country house of the British royal residents at Secunderabad, which was under the civil administration of Andhra Pradesh. After the Hyderabad state`s annexation in 1948, it became President`s retreat and used as Southern Sojourn for the President of India.
Rashtrapati Nilayam is the 16-room estate and is spread over an area of 90 acres or 360,000 square meters. It is consisting of single storied building besides visitors` quarters that can accommodate 150 people. This royal palace in Bolarum of Secunderabad has the dining hall, Darbar Hall, Morning room, Cinema Hall and many others.
The premises of the President"s Retreat-Rashtrapati Nilayam comprises of a landscaped garden, seasonal flowering plants and display of potted plants around the main building, natural cascading water falls and seven different types of nutrition gardens of Mango, Sapota, Pomegranate, Guava, Amla, Coconut and Cheeku.
The Herbal Garden in Presidents House was inaugurated in December 2009 and it was opened to the public in winter months to attract the tourists. This herbal garden boasts of different medicinal and aromatic plants. This garden has spread over 7,000 sq metres, has about 116 species of medicinal and aromatic plants including Sarpagandha, Kalabandha, Citronella, Lemon grass, Khus, Geranium, Coriander, Sandalwood, Tuber-rose, Jasmine, Kalmegh, Tulsi and many others.
The garden of Rashtrapati Nilayam was built by Central Public Works Department (CPWD) and the Andhra Pradesh State Medicinal Plants Board, while Rashtrapati Bhavan and National Medicinal Plants Board funded the project. Now this official retreat falls under the administration of Telangana.
