Development of

Colonial
architecture in
India
British Colonial Era: 1615 to 1947
The British arrival in 1615 overthrew the Mughal empire. Britain
reigned India for over three hundred years and their legacy still
remains through building and infrastructure that populate their former
colonies.
The major cities colonized during this period were Madras, Calcutta, Bombay,
Delhi, Agra, Bankipore(Patna),Karachi, Nagpur, Bhopal and Hyderabad.

St Andrews Kirk, Madras

1. It is renowned for its colonial beauty. The building is circular in form and is
sided by two rectangular sections one is the entrance porch.
2. The entrance is lined with twelve colonnades and two British lions and motto
of East India Company engraved on them.
3. The interior holds sixteen columns and the dome is painted blue with
decorated with gold stars
The Victoria Memorial ,Calcutta
It is the most effective symbolism of British Empire, built as a monument in
tribute to Queen Victoria’s reign.
The plan of the building
consists of one large central
part covered with a larger
dome.

Colonnades separate the two chambers.

Each corner holds a smaller dome and is floored with
marble plinth.
The memorial stands on 26 hectares of garden
surrounded by reflective pools
 Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus,Mumbai

The station building is designed in the High Victorian Gothic style of architecture.
The building exhibits a fusion of influences from Victorian Italianate Gothic Revival
architecture and traditional Indian architecture. The skyline, turrets, pointed
arches, and eccentric ground plan are close to traditional Indian palace
architecture

The centrally domed office structure has a 330 feet long platform connected to a
1,200 feet long train shed, and its outline provides the skeleton plan for building.
VT's dome of dovetailed ribs, built without centring, was considered as a novel
achievement of the era.
The interior of the building was conceived as a series of large rooms with high
ceilings
The columns of the entrance gates are crowned by figures of a lion
(representing Great Britain) and a tiger (representing India).

The main structure is built from a blend of India sandstone and limestone,
while high-quality Italian marble was used for the key decorative
elements.

The main interiors are also decorated with Italian marble and polished Indian
blue stone. The stone arches are covered with carved foliage and
grotesques.

Internally, the ceiling of the booking hall was originally painted blue, gold and
strong red on a ground of rich blue with gold stars. Its walls were lined
with glazed tiles
Gateway of India

•The architect George Wittet combined the elements of the Roman

triumphal arch and the 16th-century architecture of Gujarat Its
design is a combination of Hindu and Muslim architectural styles;

•The arch is of Muslim style while the decorations are of Hindu

style.

• T he gateway is built from yellow basalt and reinforced concrete.

•The stone was locally obtained, and the perforated screens were
brought from Gwalior.

•The gateway faces out to Mumbai Harbour from the tip of Apollo
Bunder.
Portuguese: 1498 to 1961
• The interior of Goan -Portuguese houses consisted of elaborate patterns
created with tiles imported from Europe and a false ceiling installed of
wood.
• The walls are painted with bright colours contrasting to the earthy
coloured furniture.
• The walls were made out of mud or laterite stone and coloured with
vegetable and natural dyes.
• Gateposts and compound walls were craved with great detail.
• The Portuguese - Catholic houses faced the street with unique
large ornamental windows opening onto verandas.
• Bold colours were painted on houses constructing distinct
identity, allowing the sailors to recognize their houses from
sea.
• The covered porches and verandas were designed for
socializing contrary to the Hindu styled housing.
• Front doors were lined with columns, and railings were
popular in embellishment
• Portuguese dominance in Goa still remains evident.
• Colonizers' missionary spirit built many magnificent cathedrals, churches, basilicas
and seminaries.

The Basilica of Bom Jesus (Good Jesus),Old Goa

• The former capital during the Portuguese rule. The three storied Renaissance
styled church was built of plaster and laterite in1605,
• It holds the mortal remains of St. Francis Xavier. The interior is built in a Mosaic-
Corinthian style and adorned with wood and gold leaf.
• The walls embrace old painting of saints as the floor is laid with pure white
marble.

Interior view
The ornamented entrance to the church. towards altar
 Se Cathedral, Velha Goa

The architecture style of the

Se Cathedral is Portuguese-
Manueline. The exterior
is Tuscan, whereas the interior
is Corinthian.

•The Se Cathedral's tower houses a large bell known as the "Golden Bell" on account of its rich
tone.
•The main altar is dedicated to Catherine of Alexandria, and there are several old paintings on
either side of it.
•On the right there is a Chapel of the Cross of Miracles, where a vision of Christ is said to have
appeared in 1919.
• There are six main panels, on which scenes from the life of Saint Catherine are carved. There is
a huge gilded reredos above the main altar.
French: 1673 to 1954
Many streets retain French names, and French-style villas are a
common sight. In the French quarter, the buildings are
typically colonial style with long compounds and stately walls.
The Indian quarter consists of houses lined with verandas and
with large doors and grills.
18th Century Tamil Building: Ananda Ranga Pillai Mansion

First Floor Interior - French Style

Ground Floor Interior - Tamil style
Among the buildings owned by Tamil noble men and traders,
the house of Ananda Ranga Pillai (109 on the street that bears
his name), built in 1735, is one of the oldest. Spared by the
British in 1761, this is one of the most beautiful examples of a
traditional Tamil house with European influence in
Pondicherry.
On the ground floor, in typically Indian fashion, the courtyard is
surrounded by exquisitely carved wooden pillars;
On the first floor, the terrace is supported by elegant masonry
columns of European design.
This edifice is plainly the expression of the two cultures to
which the great dubash of the French governor Dupleix
Long Section Plan belonged.
The ceilings are marked by heavy wooden beams and wooden
joists supporting terrace roofing made of brick-on-edge
masonry in lime mortar, called argamasse in French
and Madras roofing in English; the main building material for
all masonry works was burnt bricks in lime mortar (the lime
was made by burning sea shells from the local shore or lime
stone quarried from Tutipet)
Partial street frontage
,compound wall with curved
panels, grand pieced gate
Large courtyard with circular arched
,parapet with pot balusters Wooden railing over wrought iron
inner façade with ornate balcony .
baluster

Stucco design
Large hall,columns carring
heavy wooden beams that Semi circular arched gate with
support the roof. engaged columns
Franco–Tamil houses

Then, a corridor leads to the interior or

central courtyard, open to the sky,
called mutram, lined up by an inner veranda
with country (canal) tiles of baked earth over
wooden columns. Beyond, are the more
private spaces like sami arai (pooja room),
storeroom or bedroom and kitchen which
opens in to a rear courtyard that encloses a
well, toilet and bathroom.
It is built on rubble foundations, with walls of flat
bricks and Madras terrace roofing. It is
characterized by a street veranda,
called talvaram with Mangalore tiles over wooden
posts and a raised platform with wooden columns
and masonry benches for visitors, called tinnai.
• Exchange of architectural patterns is evident in the facades of two-
storied buildings where the ground floor is usually of the Tamil type
with talvaram, tinnai and carved doors, while the first floor features
French influence with arched windows, plaster decoration, luted
pilasters, columns with capitals, architectural motifs such as
mouldings of the doors inspired by French designs, also floral
designs such as acantha leaves, leading to a mix of Tamil and French
styles which is the signature mark of Pondicherry heritage
(balconies rest on cantilevered wooden joists).
• Probably it was considered fashionable to use French features in
the façades of the native buildings. However the interior structure
has never been influenced by western decorative motifs and, in
many cases, in the street facades, there was no compromising on
the age-old functional elements of talvaram and tinnai.
Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Pondicherry

This 100 years old historical church is 50 mts. long 48 mts. wide and 18 mts. high
with Latin rite cross shape in aerial view is in Gothic style.

Statues of the four evangelists were erected, beneath which there are four lamp
posts describing their lives and the inviting Jesus and the twelve apostles on the
front facade. The church illuminated inside and out with chandeliers, focus and flood
lights.
Dutch: 1605 to 1825
. The dutch building usually have a structure features massive teak beams.
The upper floor is located in the front wing and can be reached with a
wooded staircase. This upper storey has a wooden floor. A long open
veranda runs along the length of each wing of the building.
Mattancherry Palace
•The palace is a quadrangular structure built in Nālukettu style, the traditional Kerala
style of architecture, with a courtyard in the middle.

•In the courtyard there stands a small temple dedicated to 'Pazhayannur Bhagavati', the
protective goddess of the Kochi royal family.

•There are two more temples on either side of the Palace, one dedicated to Lord
Krishna and the other to Lord Siva.

• Certain elements of architecture, as for example the nature of its arches and the
proportion of its chambers are indicative of European influence in basic Nāluketttu
style.
•The Dining Hall has carved wooden ornate ceiling decorated with a series of brass
cups.

• The palace also contains rare examples of traditional Kerala flooring, which looks like
polished black marble but is actually a mixture of burned coconut shells, charcoal, lime,
plant juices and egg whites
 Bastion Bungalow

•Bastion Bungalow of Kerala is a famous tourist site in the fort of Kochi.

At present the Bastion Bungalow serves as the official seat of the Sub-Collector.

• The structure of the Bastion Bungalow is spherical in type and has tiled roof.

•The first floor verandah gives a unique view with a wooden portion in the front.

•The Bastion Bungalow of the fort Kochi was the camp office and residence of RDO.
Old harbour hotel

A 300 year-old building that has for long been a heritage monument of this
town, now reopened as a boutique hotel. Built in the Dutch style of
architecture with hints of Portuguese influences, it was the first hotel of
old Cochin
High ceilings, arched porticos, period furniture and works of art combine to
create a tranquil oasis