President Kovind will open Rashtrapati Bhavan’s annual ‘Udyanotsav‘ today and the Mughal Garden would open for the public from 13 February. Visitors going to Mughal Garden will have to book passes online.

Besides Mughal Gardens, visitors will be allowed in the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Rashtrapati Bhavan Museum and will also be able to witness the Change of Guard Ceremony.

Mughal Garden will be opening from 13 February to 21 March and will remain closed every Monday. The entry to the garden will be from Gate No 35 of Rashtrapati Bhavan on North Avenue Road. No charges will be levied on visitors who enter Mughal Gardens during the Udyanotsav on Friday.

To book passes online, users can visit the President of India website and click on the Mughal Gardens link. Booking can also be done via the Rashtrapati Sachivalaya website and only five visitors can be registered in a single booking. For mobile phone users, only one booking will be allowed from one mobile number.

Children below 10 years of age and citizens above 65 years will not be permitted entry. Visitors will be required to carry a visitor’s pass for entry, either in digital format or print, along with an ID card. People visiting will be required to switch off their mobile phones on the premises and if the entry pass is stored on mobile, then the visitors will have to switch off the phones after check-in.

For precautions against COVID-19 , visitors will be required to provide an undertaking during online bookings that detail the visitors are non-resident of any containment zone, not suffering from any cough, fever, or any respiratory disease, not been under quarantine in the last three weeks and have neither tested COVID-19 positive in the last three weeks.

Visitors will be required to strictly follow the COVID safety protocol set by the government and eatables like gutka, paan, cigarette, camera, and video camera would not be permitted inside the garden.

Booking for the visit date has to be done seven days in advance and booking for the date closes a day before the required visit date. The report further adds that visiting hours for the public have been divided into seven slots, each for an hour duration and maximum 100 visitors are allowed per slot.