In the olden days, Udhagamandalam (now Ootacamund) was only visited occasionally by the governor of Madras for a few months to escape the sultry summer of Madras. When the British discovered the blue beauty of the Nilgiris, they found the weather in Udhagamandalam comparable to Switzerland and made it their summer capital in South India.

Located on the ridge of the western slopes of Doddabetta on the outskirts of Ootacamund, Raj Bhavan or the Government House stands proudly resplendent in its beauty today, serving as a reminder for the tourists of the old days of glory it saw under the British raj. It was built in 1877 by Duke of Buckingham, when he was the governor of Madras. The cream-coloured mansion is sprawled across 87 acre of land, overlooking the Royal Botanical Garden. A stunning ballroom was added to the already gorgeous mansion in 1900 by Sir Arthur Havelock, and by 1904 the entire building was electrified. Surrounded by well-kept lawns and manicured gardens, Raj Bhavan is still the summer residence of the governor of Tamil Nadu. Portraits of British governors and their wives, of Queen Victoria, George V, Duke of Buckingham and other such people still decorate the walls of the building.