Rastrapati Bhawan


The Rastrapati Bhawan is the official residence of the President of Nepal, located in Kathmandu, Nepal. It hosts the Office of The President of Nepal. The main palace building was and still is known as Sital Niwas. It was built by Rana Prime Minister Chandra Shumsher JBR in 1923.

History

The palace was built by Chandra Shumsher JBR for his youngest son Krishna Shumsher from his first wife Lokbhakta Lakshmi Devi in the year 1924. Krishna Shamsher because of political pressure from his brothers handed over Sital Niwas to the Government of Nepal in 1948 and later fled Kathmandu to Bangalore in 1961. After the fall of Rana regime Sital Niwas was used by Government of Nepal as Stately Guest House and later converted into Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Official residence for President of Nepal

After the fall of Monarchy in Nepal, the government of Nepal decided to make Shital Niwas the presidential residence at a cabinet meeting on July 4, 2008. Bidhya Devi Bhandari, the incumbent President of Nepal, currently resides in this palace. It is located adjacent to Central Investigation Bureau headquarters and a military barrack.