PM Modi's Decolonisation Push Reaches Rashtrapati Bhavan With Param Vir Dirgha

Last Updated:December 17, 2025, 15:13 IST

Once lined with portraits of British ADCs, the corridors of Rashtrapati Bhavan have been reimagined as Param Vir Dirgha, a tribute to all 21 recipients of the Param Vir Chakra.

The gallery at Rashtrapati Bhavan stands as a testament to exceptional bravery and supreme sacrifice in the service of the nation.

In line with the Modi government’s strong push to junk anything that looks, feels or smells of the British Raj over the next decade — when it will be 200 years since British politician Thomas Babington Macaulay’s colonial campaign to uproot India’s cultural foundations — Rashtrapati Bhavan too has joined the effort.

Once lined with portraits of British ADCs, the corridors of Rashtrapati Bhavan have been reimagined as the Param Vir Dirgha, a solemn tribute to all 21 recipients of the Param Vir Chakra.

Thrown open by President Droupadi Murmu on Vijay Diwas (16 December 2025) — the day India defeated Pakistan and helped Bangladesh achieve independence — the gallery stands as a testament to exceptional bravery and supreme sacrifice in the service of the nation.

The before-and-after presents a stark contrast of what once was and how relics of the Raj have been shed. The transformation marks more than a physical change; it signals a conscious move away from colonial memory towards celebrating India’s own heroes and the enduring legacy of courage they represent.

While delivering the Ramnath Goenka Lecture in November, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: “Another important thing is complete freedom from the slave mentality. 190 years ago, in 1835, an Englishman named Macaulay sowed the seeds of uprooting India from its roots. Macaulay laid the foundation of slavery in India. Ten years from now, in 2035, that unholy event will complete 200 years. For the next 10 years, we have to move ahead with the goal of freeing India from the mentality of slavery."

Rashtrapati Bhavan’s recent move appears to be in sync with that idea. In the recent past, the renaming of Rajpath was one such instance. When Rajpath became Kartavya Path in 2022, a ceremonial boulevard that had “Raj" in its name was turned into a civic lesson — power is not an entitlement; it is a “duty", government sources say.

“How can Rajpath make the rulers realise their responsibilities if the name itself is Raj? Rajpath is a symbol of oppression and slavery. Today, the architecture has changed. Now, when MPs and ministers walk on Kartavya Path, they will realise their responsibilities," PM Modi had argued at the time.

In 2016, the Prime Minister’s residence shed its exclusivist overtones to become Lok Kalyan Marg. Earlier known as Race Course Road (RCR), the name was derived from its proximity to the racecourse where polo was played and frequented by British officers.

In his pursuit to shed any semblance of remaining British “slavery", to use PM Modi’s words, even the Central Secretariat has been re-envisioned as Kartavya Bhavan.

The original name, “Central Secretariat", has its roots in Delhi’s administrative planning under British India in the early 20th century and has been in use since that time.

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