The Imperial Hotel

The Imperial Hotel on Janpath was booked for a Press Conference on the 19th of June 1985. Shri Nathji was especially fond of the place, and HH Priya Nath liked the word “Imperial” which was an appropriate description for the Emperor of the World.

It was a place Shri Nathji had frequented in the 1970’s when he and HH Priya Nath visited the barber’s saloon there. The barber had developed a great love for Shri Nathji and listened to his words with rapt attention.

On one such occasion so absorbed had he become in Shri Nathji’s words that he had accidentally nipped Shri Nathji with his scissors on his ear. This led to profuse bleeding.

And that was the last time that Shri Nathji had ever visited the shop–because HH Priya Nath would not hear of Shri Nathji ever going to the shop again. Since that date till the time Shri Nathji left his physical frame in September 1992, HH Priya Nath took it upon himself to cut Shri Nathji’s hair at home.

In June 1985 the Imperial Hotel was booked for Shri Nathji’s crusade for world peace. Perhaps it was befitting that the place where Shri Nathji had shed drops of his precious blood be used as a venue for his crusade of Love for the people of the world.

The Imperial Hotel is connected to a fascinating part of history of the city as well as India. It was during the year 1911 when King Emperor George V had declared New Delhi as the Capital of India.

 The Imperial was built and run by S.B.S. Ranjit Singh. Presently the hotel is owned by Sardar Hardev Singh Akoi and Sardar Jasdev Singh Akoi, grandsons of the Late Sardar Bahadur Ranjit Singh and managed by the firm M/s Akoi Saab. The 24 king palms that lead up to the porch are an integral part of and witness to the very creation of New Delhi. The Hotel was designed to be one of the finest monuments of Lutyens’ grand vision of the Capital City’s original master plan - a unique blend of Victorian, Old colonial and Art Deco styles. The hotel was named and conferred the exquisite Lion Insignia by Lady Willington.

 The Imperial is a fine confluence of a rich historical past and contemporary international appeal. After many restorations, it has managed to preserve its charm, and exudes it’s former glory. The Hotel is a jewel of architecture and its location in the heart of the city makes it the ideal venue for tourists around the world.