Map of Narain Pillai Street showing the extent of the study area bound to the north by Veera Pilla

Street , and to
the south by Ibrahim Sahib Street a (Source: Google Maps, 2015)

HISTORYOF NARAIN PILLAI STREET

As part of Shivajinagar, Narain Pillai Street has a history that is associated with early commercial activity in
Bangalore. Known initially as General Bazaar in the 1850s up until the 1920s, when its name was changed to
Cantonment Bazaar, Shivajinagar is still a hub of commercial activity in Bangalore with Commercial Street as one
of its most well-known landmark streets. Narain Pillai Street lies to the north of the Commercial Street and based
on the existing buildings along the street one can assume that it was established in the early to mid-1800s. There
is some speculation as to the origin of the street, and who were the people who built the houses along the street.
A mix of colonial and vernacular architectural styles to the buildings along the street, demonstrate its British and
Indian beginnings. While it is suggested that Narain Pillai Street is built in the Tamil row housing style, it is not a
typical agraharam style, but is perhaps influenced by it. Row or terrace housing was also widely employed in
Britain from the 1800s onwards. The stretch of Narain Pillai Street which is the focus of this project has houses
that present this mix of architectural styles such as the houses at number 298 and 305 demonstrate influences of
colonial architecture to the exterior, and number 298 has Tamil and Keralite architectural influences to its
interiors. Other houses such as numbers 44-47 have more Indian vernacular architectural elements, proportions
and scale.