File Photo of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with Tibetan Spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, at his residence in New Delhi.
New Delhi: The sprawling 3 Motilal Nehru Road bungalow in Lutyens' Delhi served for over 10 years as the retirement abode of former prime minister Manmohan Singh who died on Thursday.
A spacious Type-VIII bungalow amid the three-acre plot, Singh had moved to this address in the national capital after attending Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony in May 2014.
Modi had succeeded him as India's prime minister and checked into 7 Race Course Road (now 7 Lok Kalyan Marg) -- the official residence of the prime minister -- where Singh stayed for 10 years.
Earlier, the four-bedroom bungalow was the official residence of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit who had vacated it after her party's loss in the Delhi assembly elections. She died in 2019 at the age of 81.
The CPWD had completely renovated and restored the bungalow by re-doing the entire flooring and pillars after Dikshit had vacated it.
Singh, being a former prime minister, enjoyed SPG protection along with his family. He also met several public figures at this residence, from the Dalai Lama to current Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
The bungalow was home to about 40 full-grown trees, including peepul, arjun, goolar, marorfalli, jamun, neem, mango and seemal, which shelter about 60 species of birds and mammals, when Singh, accompanied by his wife Gursharan Kaur had moved into this prime address in Lutyens' Delhi.
The sprawling lawns of the property also provided shelter to a sizeable number of bats.
"Although no count has been taken, the bats could number more than 200," a senior CPWD official who was involved in getting the house ready for Singh and his family, had then said.