Raj Nivas, the official residence of the Lt. Governor of the Union Territory and one of the prominent landmarks in the city, was on May Day thrown open to the public for daily visits through the year.
The magnificent heritage structure is now available for public viewing between noon and 1.30 p.m. on all days, except Sundays.
The first batch of visitors who had registered on the site (rajnivas.py.gov.in) were welcomed with sweet mangoes and given glimpses of its interiors and a walk-through of its storied history.
“Raj Nivas, one of the best maintained heritage buildings in Puducherry stands open to visitors from today. Welcome to the Raj Nivas,” Lt. Governor Kiran Bedi said in a message. “Look forward to meeting the visitors daily whenever in office and also having a brief interaction with them,” she added.
According to the mechanism put in place at the Raj Nivas, visitors who register online will be given an e-intimation of their scheduled date and time of visit. The visitors must come with photo identity cards that were declared as identity proof while registering their names.
Guided tour
The visitors will be aided by tourist guides with fluency in Tamil, Hindi, French and English. The guests can also record their thoughts and suggestions in the visitor’s book and select comments will be posted on the Raj Nivas website.
The measure has been aimed at providing an opportunity to the residents of Puducherry, tourists from other parts of the country, as well as international tourists, to savour a walk through one of the city’s famous heritage buildings.
It also ties in with Ms. Bedi’s efforts to what she has stated to transform Raj Nivas into a ‘Peoples’ Nivas’, in addition to the Open House sessions, film screenings for children and lecture series.
However, at all times, the Raj Nivas has reserved the right of entry which could be restricted or declined at any time without assigning reasons.
