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Witness Of The Independence Movement
A magnificent mansion, majestically standing close to the 'Administrative
Block' of Himachal
Pradesh University at Summer hill, a suburb of Shimla, was the
house of Late Raj Kumari Amrit Kaur, a veteran freedom fighter and close
associate of Gandhiji and the first Union Health Minister of India.
A Royal Heritage
A number of memorable happenings of country's freedom movement are
associated with this historic building. This house has the unique
distinction in as much as that, 'Father of the Nation', Mahatma Gandhi,
stayed here during his visits to Shimla between 1935 and 1946. Raj Kumari
Amrit Kaur gave this house to the All India institute of Medical Sciences
- 'AIIMS', Delhi
and is now under their administrative control and is being maintained as a
guesthouse.
The building was the property of Maharaja of Kapurthala, an erstwhile
state of Punjab and was inherited by his daughter, Raj Kumari Amrit Kaur.
It was one of the three buildings in the entire estate of the Maharaja.
The other two buildings came to the share of her two brothers, Sir Maharaj
Singh, the first Governor of Bombay (Mumbai) after Independence and Mr.
Dalip Singh, Chief Justice of Lahore High Court before partition of the
country.
The houses of her two brothers got gutted and now the 'Administrative
Block' and 'Library Block' of the Himachal Pradesh University stand on
those sites. Another building near
Chadwick
falls belonged to her third brother, colonel shamsher singh and is
now in the possession of "All India Radio", Shimla. Gandhiji
used this place in serene environments, for evening prayers, which were
attended bya large number of shimlaites. The central Government has handed
over this building to the state government for setting up a gandhian study
centre in it.
Mansions Exquisite Interiors
The entire area on which this building is constructed is about 5 Bighas.
The building has three floors besides the basement. In addition to the
Reception cum drawing hall, it has a kitchen, pantry and suite nos. 5 and
6 on the ground floor. First floor has suite no. 1 to 4 while the attic
floor houses suite no. 7.
A major attraction of the house is the exquisite teak and walnut
furniture, carpets and wall hangings adorning the rooms. Gandhiji used to
stay here, along with his two private secretaries, Raj Kumari Amrit Kaur
and Ms. Sushila Naya, in suite no. 6, which is the smallest one. The same
old, large sized portrait of Gandhiji is placed on a high mantel in this
suite even now.
It was from here that Gandhiji, with a galaxy of leaders like Shri
Jawahar Lal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Dr. Rajender Prasad and Maulana Abul
Kalam Azad, set out to meet the then Viceroy of India, Lord Wavell in June
1945, for discussions regarding country's independence. There were many
servant quarters where nearly 20 servants of different disciplines stayed.
Shri S.D. Sharma, who is on the establishment of the AIIMS, is the
present caretaker of the building.