The Story behind the Building of New Maharashtra Sadan
Delhi, also known as the National Capital Territory of Delhi is a metropolitan region that includes the national capital city,New Delhi. It is India's second most populous city after Mumbai.

Delhi, located at the crossroads of history, has been occupied, abandoned and rebuilt over the centuries. It has a long history, including a history as the capital of several empires. It has been the capital of the Pandavas, the Rajputs, Central Asian dynasties, the Mughals and the British, and is best described as a melting pot of these vastly varying traditions and customs. The British captured Delhi in 1857 and the city replaced Kolkata as the seat of British government inIndiain 1911. When the British leftIndiain 1947,New Delhi became the national capital and seat of government. Today,Delhi contains many important historical monuments, buildings and features and the architectural heritages have their own saga to say. Ancient massive buildings, rising monuments, historical relics, mesmerizing architecture reveal their characteristics. To enhance the City’s grandeur and enrich the Lutein Zone’s beauty, a new and a magnificent State’s Guest House in Dholpur Red Stone Building-cum-Rajvada, entitled New Maharashtra Sadan, vividly stands out at Kasturba Gandhi Marg in the vicinity of Baroda House, the Headquarters of the Northern Railways.

A treaty signed in 1752 made Marathas, the protector of the Mughal throne atDelhi. This protector and the Great Maratha Warrior, Chhattrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s opulent life-size statue has been erected at the Central place of the palatial building. To its right, we find a grand statue of Pioneer of Indian Social Revolution, Mahatma Jotiba Phule, and to the left, a humble life-size statue of the chief architect of Indian Constitution, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. A glimpse at all these statues and a glance at the building reflectMaharashtra’s social, political and educational sagas.

Entering inside the guest house-cum-palatial building, a glimpse at the life-size statues of Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj and the Architect of Maharashtra State, Yashwantrao Chavan catches your attention. The architecture and the designs of Maharashtra’s new guest house have definitely set a precedent for other states to follow suit. They would definitely try to emulate the designs, features and architecture of such a royal State Guest House, which adds one more feather on the Delhiheritage cap. The ‘New’ Maharashtra Sadan, as the name suggests, is fully equipped with hi-tech facilities, setting guidelines for other state guest houses to follow suit. The architectural designs of this guest houses matches with the historical Shaniwar Wada of Pune District and Vishram Bagh Wada of Kolhapur District in Maharashtra. Vishrambag Wada is famous for its fine entrance and the balcony with carved woodwork. Vishrambag Wada is a three-storied mansion. It symbolizes the tales of Pune's rich culture and heritage. Whereas, Shaniwar Wada is a royal residence built by the second Peshwa, Bajirao-I Shaniwar Wada, which is located in Pune. It had fine wooden pillars and latticework.
A simple glance at the magnificent building will set your jaws low.

An adventurous and interesting story goes behind this state guest house. The search for New Maharashtra Sadan and the construction of this guest house has an interesting tale. But before that, let us peep into the history in the making of Maharashtra Sadan. It was the foresightedness of the first Chief Minister of MaharashtraState, Shri Yashwantrao Chavan, who thought of opening up a liaison office in New Delhito have a flawless communication with the Central Government. It was in 196o, which the office of Maharashtra Information Centre came up, which in those days used to act as an embassy of the State Government in the national capital. With the increasing activities, the VIP movements started increasing day by day. As a result, the dignitaries faced a problem of accommodation in Delhi. This gave birth to the opening of Maharashtra Sadan. With the enactment of the new British Indiaconstitution under the GoI Act, 1919, driven by Montague-Chelmsford doctrine, a chamber of princes was created to represent the native princely states in the parliamentary proceedings. This led to the necessity for Indian Princes to visit New Delhito attend the proceedings of the council of States to raise their concerns. And thus, the States’ Guest Houses were institutionalized in New Delhi. The princely state of Sangli had its Residency on the present location of Maharashtra Sadan on the then Lytton Road, now Copernicus Marg. On 8th of March 1948SangliState got merged with Bombay Presidency and hence this property was assigned to the State of Bombay in 1951 after abolition of princely states. With the creation of the Maharasahtra State, all properties of erstwhile Bombay State outside the then Bombay State came to the share of Maharashtra and hence, the Sangli Residency was taken over by Maharashtra and renamed as Maharashtra House.

Presently, the New Maharashtra Sadan (NMS) was popularly known as Sirmur Plot. It so happened that, before independence, the Government of India handed over a plot admeasuring 6.18 acres at Kasturba Gandhi Marg to the then Maharaja of Sirmur of Himachal Pradesh. The GoI handed over this plot in 1930. However, in 1932, the Maharaja disposed off this plot. It was during the Second World War that this plot went into the hands of Ministry of Defense and was retained and maintained by them.

In the Year 1951, the Government of India pronounced that the land allotted to the then princely states during the British Indian rule, should be handed over to their respective states. As a result, after independence, the Mumbai State was born and this plot became the property of the Barod aprincely state. There after, when the Reorganization of States Act came into existence, the States of Maharashtra and Gujarat were born. However, as per this Act, all the property existing outside Gujarat State would fall under the jurisdiction of the Maharashtra State, and the rest is history.

However, the State Government of Maharashtra came to know about this State Property only in 1970. Meanwhile, taking into consideration the increasing multi-fold activities of the state, a space crunch to accommodate dignitaries, ministers, officers at Maharashtra Sadan at Mandi House was direly felt. Accordingly, the government took unremitting pains and constant follow-ups with the Central Government for long 29 years, from 1970 to 1999 to seek possession of this plot, only to see the light of the day on 10th of May 1999. Finally, the Government of India handed over this plot to the Maharashtra government. In the due course, some toiling efforts were taken to excavate the encroachers. A couple of years later, the Maharashtra State Government was able to occupy the plot and constructed a 100 bed guest house. Finally, a decision to officially construct a New Maharashtra Sadan was taken up and all the legal formalities pertaining to clear title, clearances and necessary permissions were sought and finally it was on 12th December, 2006 that the actual construction took place.

Now, let us talk about the building’s construction… the height of the whole building has been restricted to 9.2m. Since this building falls under the Lutyen’s Building Zone, limit to construction up to two storeys has been adhered to. InMaharashtra, a rich and an effervescent ‘Wada Culture’ existed during the Maratha reign. Emulating the same style, the new Maharashtra Sadan has also been designed accordingly. From the main entrance, the building segregates on both the sides paving way for the room accommodation on each side. The reception, foyer area and the verandahs are spacious enough and have tremendous light and ventilation. Due care has been taken to safeguard the privacy of the Governor, Chief Minister and other VIP dignitaries. For ensuring this, independent entrances have been constructed on either side of the building with a separate lift attachment for both the sides. Suites for the Ministers have also been designed in a way that, each room faces the greenery outside with artificial waterfalls only to make their brief stay pleasant. All the rooms have easy access to dining halls, conference halls and the main lobby. Legal provision to accommodate 207 vehicles in the basement area has duly been taken of.

In order to give a vibrant look to the gigantic building, Dholpur red stone has been used. Artificial waterfalls, landscaping, open space for direct sunlight, greenery all around have been effectively designed to suit the interiors. The central place of the building has been kept to give the artificial landscaping around the statue of Chhattrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
New Maharashtra Sadan In A Glance
Total Area - 6 Acres
Total Rooms -138
Rooms in Chief Minister's suite - 13
Rooms in Governor's suite - 13
8 suites of 3 rooms each for Cabinet Ministers and High Court's Judges
16 Suites of 2 Rooms each for State Ministers
6 suites for General Secretaries
21 rooms for MLAs
2 rooms for Physically Challenged
80 rooms for Officers
4 rooms for the staff of Management Department
Well furnished Library and Museum
MP room
Auditorium with capacity of 500 persons
Press Room with capacity of 100 persons
(Issued by Maharashtra Information Centre)

Hastakshep