Raj Bhavan: 11 Feb. 2016

This trip shall remain in my memoir for quite some time. Primarily because of the security attached to the structure, secondly because of the sheer size of the structure and lastly for the procedure adapted for entering the same. Raj Bhawan, one thing is seeing from outside and seeing with awe the sheer size of it and the other is the excitement which accompanied me when I tread inside the premises over the rounded pebbles at the entrance. The majesty of the building can be known from a small piece by Lord Curzon (1898-1905):“without doubt the finest Government House occupied by the representative of any Sovereign or Government in the world.”

I had written a simple letter addressed to HE Governor of the state of West Bengal requesting him to allow a visit into the prestigious premises. I was surprised to get a positive reply. The date and time was fixed as 11 AM of 11-Feb.. I was there at the stipulated time and I had to wait to be associated with another group of people who had a similar rendezvous at 11:30 AM. The team arrived and I was surprised to note that the team included the son, daughter-in-law and grandkids of the last ADC to Governor in the pre-independence era. The British needless to say have always been fascinated by history and thus the importance they provide to their predecessors.
We had a dedicated person to guide us through the property. The entrance was through the ground floor. It had a exhibit of large B&W paintings made of paper properly and beautifully stacked on stands. The ones which I could note were: Winding corridor, Ball room, Chinese cannon, View of Esplanade-East, horse which was part of the Coat-of-Arms, Throne Room, Victorian mirrors, view from the french window, a pool by the garden, South Eastern view, northern facade, northern part cochere, banquet hall, Marble Hall, view from the southern facade and view from the Govt. place.

The same further opened to a open space where we have huge busts of Roman emperors made by Europeans. It included Vespian, Tiberius, Augustus, Otho, Julius, Nero, Vitellius, Titus, Gaiba, Domittas, Calicula and Calaudius. There were all brought by Curzon when he was at the helm of affairs.

I was fortunate to see the first electric lift (of Asia) which was called the bird-cage lift. It was still working; this was towards to the right of the open space. The walls towards the library (towards the left of the open gallery) was decorated with many photographs. Some important ones were: Writer's Building, Funeral of Lord Brabourne (1940), Lord Mayo's bullock cart, visit of Nehru (1947), group photograph of Legislative Assembly (1810), Allied Leaders conference of 1942), Gov. John Anderson with Sarat Chandra & P C Ray at Dacca (1937) et al.. The wall had a large oil painting of Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar by Atul Bose (1957).

The library had an excellent collection of mostly photographs and some paintings; each of them were rare. Some were: C Rajgaopalchari with the entire Raj Bhawan staff (1948), Shanti Swarup Dhawan, outgoing Governor C Rajgopalchari and incoming Gov. K N Katju, Padmaja Naidu with Nehru and Dalai Lama (1956), Governor Haren Mukherjee (01-Jan 1965) and one with A P Sharma & Air Marshall M Dotiwala.

The library housed a rare table on which Lord Curzon sat and planned the bifurcation of Bnegal. Some rare artefats have also been preserved; some were: 10th century Koran with every page being a different colour, cigarette case of John anderson, silver match box of Lord Brabourne, cigarette case of Lord Linlithglow (1940), fascimile copy of the original Gitanjali, a topographical map of ruins of Gour (1817) and book called Ruins of Gour by H Creighton Esq..

The first floor was a huge wall. It had huge chandeliers and paintings. It was atleast 40 ft. high and had wooden floor. It had a large straight centre table and was used by the Governor for small parties. It had a huge painting of Jang bahadur of Nepal and one of Sir Charles Alfred Elliot (KCIE). Lt. Governor of Bengal. The space also has 2 chairs used by Lord Curzon and the one chair used by Bahadur Shah Zafar when he was being transferred to Burma. It also has huge displays of Baluch sarees (these have been added recently, it was obvious). All the chandeliers were of 1799 and were made up of Belgian glass.

There was a passage which showed us to another part on the same floor. It had chandeliers; what was unique about them was that they pronounced a distinct enjoyable sound once wind blew through them. There were large windows which clearly showed that it must have been used for the purpose which I just described. To the right was the Throne Room. It had huge curtains (same height of approximately 40 ft.). On one side of the wall was a huge urn containing some of the ashes of Mahatma Gandhi. Oath taking happens besides a huge throne which was the piece of attraction of the room. The same has been used for since 1902 and the tradition continues till date. The idea behind this was of Lord Curzon. The walls are adorned with huge paintings; prominent among them are: B C Roy by an artist Ashes Mitra, Subash Bose by Atul Bose and Nehru by Ashesh Mitra.

This part also has a balcony which clearly shows the South Gate. A peculiarity of the same is that it is used only by Heads of states of other countries, the president and the Prime Minister besides the Governor. And it is meant only for them; the spouses also are not allowed through it. VIP in true sense, Phew!!

One side led to the official chamber of Governor and his office. The approaching wall had a huge array of photographs all of the previous incumbents in the building. Ther is a bust of Tagore. We also have picture of King King George V (1865-1936), marquis of Wellesley K G (1760-1842) and few old paintings. It also had two very huge (almost 12 ft high) mirrors made of single piece Belgian glass. There are photos of Raj Bhawan (1947) and Council House & Govt. House (1794).

One the same floor we have the Prince of Wales suite; obviously named so because he had stayed here once. It has designer furniture and it was last revamped during the regime of Mr. Viren Shah when he was staying at Raj Bhawan. The same is now used by Heads of states, Prime Ministers and Presidents. It has a huge painting of Raja Ram Mohan Roy by Bikash Bhattacharya (1990) and has a personal dining room. A small room is also preserved for the physician.

One the same floor (I was literally confused with the directions by now), we had the Yellow Dining Room with carpets made by the inmates of jails and hence the name jail carpets. To one side, we had the Banquet Hall for a big private banquet of atleast 60 people. The entire length of the table had chandeliers over it. The attached kitchen was also open for us to see. It was usually empty. An interesting feature of the kitchen was a staircase with a tastefully decorated banister. We were told, it connected directly to the Ball room upstairs. In the British days, this staircase was used for transportation of food and movement of the servants so that the normal parties / banquets were not disturbed by their movements.

In the same floor is an exclusive Gandhi area. Probably the same was developed during the time of Gopal K Gandhi. It had some rare photographs. Some notable ones were: Gandhi & Lord Richard Gavin (1945) and Gandhi in maun vrat with Gov. Casey (1945). Some other rare photographs closeby were: First PM & First Gov. of West Bengal in Govt. House (1948), Nehru, M O Mathai & C Rajgopalchari, oath taking ceremony of the intermediary govt. of Bengal led by Muslim League in 1946, Padmaja Naidu swearing Chief Minister Ajoy Mukherjee (1967), Padmaja Naidu swearing in B C Roy in 1957, Nehru inspecting guard of honour in 1947 and C Rajagopalchari & Lady Protima Mitter (1947).

Among some of the private rooms we have a billiard table made by C Lazarus & Co. in 1820. In the same floor we have a Bharat Ratna room which has a list of names which have been associated with Calcutta. Some of the names scribed on the wooden palate of honour are: C Rajagopalchari, B R Ambedkar, S Radhakrishnan, C V Raman, B C Roy, I Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Satyajit Ray, Aruna Asaf Ali, Amartya Sen and Ravi Shankar.

We also visited the Council Chamber which was used for political discussion and it has been maintained as it was. The guide also shows us the North Gate which is used by the Governor to come in and also to go out when his / her term ends.

On the top floor is the Ball Room. It is huge, has large pillars and has huge golden brocades. It houses a old piano, a huge portrait of King Alexander, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria. From the look, it was clear that it was not being used nowadays.

Photography was allowed only on the ground and the Ball Room; I have captured some. These photographs shall occupy a place of pride in my collection. Since this article is on the blog, I am not placing any. I was requested so by the OSD to Governor.

Photo or no photo, the travail was exciting!