Governor General Lord Wellesley took up residence in the Government House, as it was then called, in 1803, even before the last of the artisans had vacated the mansion, such was his impatience to live in a home worthy of the ruler of the British empire in India. Twenty-three Governors General and later Viceroys lived in this house, until the capital shifted to Delhi in 1912. The first Indian occupant was C. Rajagopalachari, the governor of Bengal, in 1947. And over the years, as the erstwhile City of Palaces metamorphosed into the City of Processions, Raj Bhavan remained its pristine self, regally removed from the hustle-bustle of the city and its people. In this sumptuous and lavishly illustrated collection, Basudeb Chattopadhyay narrates the story behind the building of the Government House, Swapan Mullick talks of its diverse occupants, while Prabir Mitra discusses the architecture of the building. Bunny Gupta and Jaya Chaliha describe the lives of the British residents; and Sovan Som of its lavish interiors as a symbol of power. Sukanta Chaudhuri discusses the significance of the building in the contemporary world and Saroj Mukherjee recalls the experience of living in it. The Raj Bhavan is not simply a heritage building, museum or art gallery. It is Kolkata’s most rooted, most telling monument to a crucial period of the nation’s history.
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