Viceregal Lodge (Rashtrapati Niwas)

The Viceregal Lodge, built in 1888 in Scottish Baronial style, was the summer residence of the British Viceroy of India — the administrative centre of the Empire for five months of every year from its completion until Independence in 1947. It is the most ambitious piece of colonial architecture in Shimla and one of the finest examples of Victorian institutional building in India. The building now serves as the Indian Institute of Advanced Study and is open to guided tours.

The tour takes about 45 minutes and covers the principal rooms: the library (which retains its original bookcases and fittings), the ballroom, the Viceregal dining room, and the conference room where the 1945 Shimla Conference took place. The guide's commentary covers both the architectural history and the political events that played out here — Curzon's tenure, the Simla Convention of 1914, the 1945 conference, and the final British departure in 1947. The building's exterior and grounds, set on Observatory Hill above the town, are impressive and the views from the surrounding garden are among the best in Shimla.

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A story
The Shimla Conference of June 1945, held in the Viceregal Lodge, was the last British attempt to broker an agreement between the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League before Indian independence. It failed — Jinnah refused any arrangement that did not guarantee Pakistan as a separate state — and the failure made Partition two years later effectively inevitable. The room where the conference took place is preserved inside the building.