Shimla, Feb 2 (Inditop.com) It was home to seven viceroys during the British Raj and housed the Punjab High Court where Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathu Ram Godse was tried. Now the glorious past of Peterhoff hotel here will be kept alive by promoting it as a heritage property.
“We are planning to promote Peterhoff as a heritage property among tourists in a bigger way. For this, we will put up a plaque to highlight its glorious history,” Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) assistant general manager Vijay Sharma told Inditop. He is also in charge of the hotel.
“The history of the building comprised the trial of the father of the nation’s assassin, Godse, during 1948-49. At that time, the building housed the Punjab High Court when Shimla was part of united Punjab,” he said.
At present, Peterhoff, located in the heart of the city, just one kilometre from the state assembly building, has 34 suites.
“The hotel would soon be refurbished and expanded with 25 more rooms, a conventional hall and a big restaurant,” Sharma said.
The hotel that witnessed important periods of history stands on the charred remains of the earlier building that was gutted in a massive fire Jan 12, 1981.
Peterhoff was first occupied in 1876 by the viceroy couple, the Lyttons. At that time it developed a reputation for its hospitality, particularly for the quality and quantity of exotic drinks served there.
After independence, Peterhoff housed the Punjab High Court when it witnessed the trial of Godse. The case was finally decided June 21, 1949, against Godse.
Later, the building was turned into the governor’s residence.
During a fire in 1981, then governor Aminuddin Ahmed Khan managed a narrow escape from the flaming building. He lost all his belongings and was left with only the clothes he was wearing.
When it was burnt down, Barnes Court was made the governor’s residence and continues to be so.
Peterhoff was rebuilt in 1992-93 and converted into a state-run guest house-cum-hotel.
Shimla, the former summer capital of the British, has 91 British-era heritage buildings in typical Tudor style – all wooden frames and shingled eaves.
