Make online booking for visit to Rashtrapati Bhavan

Rashtrapati Bhavan, the imposing presidential palace spread over 130 hectares in the heart of city, has become a more accessible place for tourists and common people.

President Pranab Mukherjee, said his mission was to make the place as open as possible to people, including children.

“All one needs to do is to log on to the internet and make an advance booking for any of the three days it is open to the public every weekend. Previously, one had to physically go to Rashtrapati Bhavan to make a booking.

The new system has seen footfalls spiral from 500 over three days on an average last year to nearly 1,600 over the same period, with a cap of 700 visitors per day, an officer said.

A media tour through Rashtrapati Bhavan threw up interesting sights of groups of foreign tourists being escorted by young scholar-guides through the Durbar Hall, the Marble Hall, the south and north drawing rooms, the museum, library and banquet hall.

Explaining the growing popularity of the president’s abode on the capital’s sight-seeing map, the officer said, “We have been receiving online reservations from around the world. We have thrown open new galleries and the front entrance of Rashtrapati Bhavan.”