Rashtrapati Bhavan is Soul of India: President

New Delhi, Jun 2 (UNI) Asserting that the Rashtrapati Bhavan represents the ''Soul of India,'' President A P J Abdul Kalam today said it shows the integration of the past and the present and will lead the country to its future.

''Rashtrapati Bhavan is not a mansion or a palace where the president lives. It has got a soul--the soul of India,'' Dr Kalam said while receiving the first copy of a Pictorial book on Rashtrapati Bhavan 'Mansion Nonpareil-- Marvel on Raisina Hill'' at a function here.

The Rashtrapati Bhavan is the ''peoples mansion,'' he said.

''I preserves the history of India. Shows how to rule. How we got our freedom. (It teaches) How to protect our freedom. Our soul lies in it,'' Dr Kalam said.

He stressed the need for protecting not only the spectacular building but ''the soul'' of it.

He said a Heritage organisation from UK visited the Rashtrapati Bhavan and gave a certificate that it is being maintained well.

Giving the historical background of the building, Dr Kalam said the foundation of the sprawling building, designed by Sir Lutyens, was laid in 1917 and it could be completed only in 1930. The progress of the building was diligenty entered into his diary and he wrote several letters to his wife giving all the details about it.

''But he did not receive a single word of reply,'' the President, who is a bachelor, informed and jokingly wondered, ''Are all the wives like that?'' The President, who has written foreword for the book, said that it has recorded all the historic moments, including the visit of Mahatma Gandhi to the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

''I see the architectural marvel of Rashtrapati Bhavan particularly on full moon night every month. The splendour of the Bhavan, the abundance of flowers and myriad varieties blossoming, the fragrance of the herbal garden, the charm of the tactile garden, the bio-diversity park -- the whole atmosphere was dynamic and pulsating. All these beautiful events have touched the soul and were a total bliss,'' Dr Kalam writes in his foreword to the book.

''I am delighted that Rashtrapati Bhavan is bringing out a pictorial book on this magnificent edifice, which will give the people a rare insight into this grandiose and spectacular monument.

I hope and am sure that this book would open up to the people another window of an important facet of our cultural heritage and also marks the confluence of the East and the West,'' the foreword says.

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