Governors House Raj Bhawan Nainital

Governors House Rajbhawan Nainital is the official accomodation for the Governor of Uttarakhand in Nainital. The beautiful estate is spread across 86.85 hectare and consists of a two-storied mansion, lush gardens, swimming pool, golf course and dense montane forest. The forest, rich in both floral and faunal biodiversity, has a large number of visiting and resident wildlife including birds, mammals, reptiles and butterflies.

Governors House Nainital Also known as Raj Bhawan Nainital, Governors House Nainital was built in 1899 and designed in the Victorian Gothic domestic style (also called “Domestic Gothic“) by the architect F.W. Stevens. Originally built as the summer residence of the governor of the North West Province, it later became the summer residence for the Lieutenant Governor of the United Provinces. Currently, Raj Bhavan is the official guest house for the governor of Uttarakhand and for visiting state guests.

The complex consists of a two-storied mansion with 113 rooms, a large garden, a swimming pool, and golf links. Obtaining prior permission is a “must” for visiting.The Raj Bhavan estate is spread over 205 acre of area with a Golf Course in 45 acre of land. It has 75 rooms. The Golf Course of Raj Bhavan, built in 1936, is one of the vintage golf courses in India, and is affiliated to the Indian Golf Union. It also consists of a garden and swimming pool. In the post-Independence period, Sarojini Naidu, the first Governor of Uttar Pradesh, was the first occupant of this historic monument.

View of the Old Government House

Raj bhawan Golf Course was developed in the year 1926, The course itself is a connoisseur’s delight. It is a shortpar 61 course with the regulation 18 holes and 18 Tees covering a distance of about 3.2 kms. What the course lacks in length makes-up for the other technical challenges including the use of browns instead of the obligatory greens on 13 holes. It has combination of Greens and Browns. Preferred lie is permitted in fairways. Added to that the fact that on many holes one is driving up or down a hillside with no possibility of sighting the hole till the very edge of the green and one begins to treat the course with the respect it deserves. Set in a lush and pristine mixed forest, the course is also a nature lover’s delight with many rare and endangered species of flora and fauna in residence. In

May 2002, warning sign had to be posted to accommodate an anxious mother and her two new members of the leopard family delivered somewhere on the fairways, that is an exclusive hazard available to a very few golf courses in the world. At present the facilities at Golf Course consist of a cozy clubhouse earlier known as Vohra Pavilion and there are two other Pavilions (Governor’s Pavilion & Heally’s Pavilion) strategically located to provide rest and panorama to straining golfers.

Photo Credit : Amit Verma & Neha Verma.