COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE OF PALGHAT CITY & AROUND

Palakkad 'Little London In The Banks Of Bharathapuzha'.

Palakkad has the 3rd largest number of beautiful and classic British colonial structures in Erstwhile Madras Presidency. (After Chennai & Nilgiris Districts) Other European influences like Italian, German, French, Dutch & Portuguese can be seen abundantly.Most of these styles are highly mixed with Indian and other Asian Styles to look more native to suit the climatic and cultural conditions of the place.Central & Southern Regions in the city has maximum no: of colonial structures. Nowadays, that area is changing very quickly,although many British buildings are still in use & municipality is maintaining it very neatly. West Palakkad has many pre colonial & colonial buildings.While North has maximum no: of oldest buildings.East Palakkad has maximum no: of new buildings. For Madras Presidency, Palakkad & Valluvanad were like two eyes.Very precious, for them, British settlers wanted to make their second London in South India.(After Madras)

Here are some of them.More & more photos will be updated every week. Enjoy.

Left To Right : Anjuvilakku,Victoria College Clock Tower, Municipality Office,Old WareHouse Aka New Mansion, Old Munsif Court & Govt.Hospital, Main Town Electricity Supply Office, BEM Higher Secondary School Main Building, Govt.Moyan Girl's Higher Secondary School, Old Tile Factory Bungalow, Sub Jail & Taluk Supply Office,Register Office Buildings, St.Sebastian Cathedral, Old Fort Bungalow Aka District Court Building And C.S.I Mepparamba Cathedral.

Village Office,(1889) Revenue Divisional Office (1917) & Pallipuram Junior School Building (1901) Was Built By My Great Grandfather. (Father's Father Side)

Recently Renovated & Repainted Old Munsif Court & Oldest Civilian Hospital Building Of Palakkad Built In The Year 1861. Awesome Beauty Made Using Dutch Style Architecture.

Village Office No.2 Is Housed On One Of The Classic Looking European Bungalows In College Road, Tharekkad. Fine Blend Of Cone & Rotunda Is A Speaciality For This Building.

Victoria College Principal's Bungalow Was Built On 1889 In Kerala & Victorian Styles.

Revenue Divisional Office Building Is A Classic One Built In The Year 1917 Using Kerala Temple & Victorian Architecture.

Municipal Office Gardens, Victoria College Grounds & English Gardens Inside Fort.

Old Fort Police Station Aka Fort Museum, Old Co-Operative Hospital, Top Of An Old Ware House In Godown Street, (Market Road) Old Garrison Built By Tippu Was Later Used As Granary By British, A Bungalow Street Building, Forest Office In Fort Maidan, Another Bungalow In Godown Street, Old New Theatre Building Now Got Modified Both Inside & Outside As 'Devi Durga Theatre', Back Side Of BEM School As Seen From English Church Road.

Venkatesh Emporium @ Court Road, Bungalow Street Building, An Old Mettupalayam Street Building, Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Pharmacy Store Bungalow, Education Supplies HPO Road, An Old Now Demolished Bungalow In Court Road, Victoria College Hostel, An Old Lodge In Godown Street, Some Old Trading Buildings On Market Road.

B.E.M Junior School, An Old Damaged Building In Mettupalayam Street, Palakkad District  Co-Operative Agricultural Society, C.S.I English Medium School, A Restored Old Building In Mettupalayam Street.

                                           Portuguese & Dutch Architectural Styles.

                                                    French Architectural Styles
                 

    French Style House In Tailor Street.

             

French Art Deco House On Tailor Street.

    Some Buildings In Market Road Need Conservation.People Please Help To Renovate These         Type Of Old British Buildings In Market Road.

Sree Venkteshwara Institute Building Is One Of The Examples Of  Keralite - French Styles.

A Perfect Example Of Kerala - Dutch Style Building Housing Pulavar Enterprise In Market Road.

Beautiful Heritage Buildings Still Used For Trade & Commerce @ Market Road. 

Market Road British & Asian Mixed Heritage Buildings Montage.

Old Parli Bridge, Kannadi River Aqueduct Near Karingarapully, Parli New Bridge, Old Tile Factory @ Parli, Old Kannadi Tile Factory, Tile Factory Bungalow & Rail Bridge In Kalpathy, Puthiyapalam Bridge, Old Parli Bridge Photo Took On Early Morning And Mepparamba Bridge & Kalpathy River As Seen From Kalpathy Bridge.

Palakkad City North Police Station - 1913 (Below) & A Few Beautiful Buildings Near To It. 

Traveller's Bungalow, T.B.Road.(1856) Elappully Goverment Hospital & Malampuzha Dam Inspection Engineer's Bungalow.

Old Victoria College Principal Hostel Is A Beautiful Building Built To House Principals Of Victoria College. (1895)And Siruvani Dam Inspection Engineer's Office Is Also A Good Looking Colonial Bungalow.

Court Road Colonial Buildings.

Floral Designed Ventillation Window & Roof Of Vijaya Hall In G.B.Road. A Classic Colonial Bungalow Made In Late 19th Century.

Partly Damaged Old Building Near Hotel Kalpakavadi, Palace Buildings House, VijayaHall & Janatha Watch Company Building In GandhiBazaar Road.

Abandoned British Military Godown Inside Town Railway Station Premises.

A Beautiful Colonial Bungalow With Kerala Hindu Architecture @ Tharekkad.

'Vasavaprastham' Is The Name Of This Tharavadu Situated @ Tharekkad. This Is A Classic Looking Palace Like Building Which Exhibits Both Asian & European Styles.  

 Partly Damaged Colonial Building In Mettupalayam Street.

A Well Maintained Beautiful British Building @ Mettupalayam Street.

This Classic British Bungalow Is Situated @ English Church Road. Now Used As HeadQuarters Of A Palghat Based Multinational Company Named 'Sitics'.

Sitics Bungalow From The Entrance Gate.

Palakkad District Co-Operative Agricultural Society Is Built In Late 1940s Using Kerala Hindu Palatial & Temple Architecture Styles. 

PSV Hall Was Renamed After The Death Of Ayurveda Acharyan P.S.Warrier Who Founded Kottakal AryaVaidhyasala In 1905. This Classic Bungalow Was Built By My Father's Grandfather (Mother's Side) Who Was A Great Landlord Resided In Mankombu. Locally Known As 'Kuttanadan Chakravarthy'. Had Lot Of Paddy Fields & Coir Factories In Alappuzha District. Iyers In Palakkad,(Taluks Of Palakkad, Chittur, Alathur) Kottayam(Vaikom)& Alappuzha (Alappuzha Town, Mankombu, Chengannur, Ambalapuzha) Were Mostly Very Rich & Influential Compared To Other Parts Of Kerala. They Were Powerful Like Namboothiris, Nairs, Nambiyars.

C.S.I. English Medium School, Robinson Road. (1866)

Basel Evangelical Junior School, Robinson Road. (1858)

B.E.S. English Medium School Was Built On Kerala Style With Colonial Blend Of Simple Type.

One Of The Colonial Buildings In Vadakkanthara Main Road.

A British Colonial Gate Of An Old WareHouse In Vadakkanthara Road. Built By Combining Portuguese & Asian Pagoda Styles. 

A Portuguese Style Colonial House In Moothanthara.

Another Moothanthara Portuguese Colonial Style House Built In 1953 Year Is Inscribed On It. 

A Dutch Colonial Style House In Chittur.

Chittur Municipal Office Building Built On Kerala- Dutch Style In The Year 1909. Chittur Was Ruled By Raja Of Cochin Till January 1,1957. Th

           Chittur College Gate Was Inspired From Trivandrum Zoo main Gate Built In 19th Century.

                                                 Trivandrum Zoo's Main Gate

                 Mananchira Square Main Gate In Calicut Was Inspired From Both.                                         

Chittur College Is One Of The Oldest Colleges In The State Of Kerala. It Was In The Year 11/08/1947, This College Was Established By Maharaja Of Cochin.This Was Built Using Art Deco Style Mixed With British Edwardian Architecture.

Vaniyamkulam ITI Or Old Gundert Bungalow Was Constructed By Combining Indian & Dutch Styles In 1870's By Basel Evangelical Missionary. Herman Gundert Stayed Here For Some Years For His  Malayalam - English Dictionary Work. 

British Tudor Style Entrance Of Dance Market, (Fish Market) Palakkad Market Road.

A French & Persian Styled Colonial Building In Market Road.

  This Market Road Building Is An Example Of Kerala Buddhist -English Architectural styles.

                     A Unique Blend Of French & Indo-Saracenic Styles.

                              One Of The Entrance Gates For Market Road Juma Masjid.

        One Of The Main Minarets As Seen From This Street, Situated On The Back Of This Street.

     A Unique Blend Of Kerala Palace & French Styles.(Above & Below) Ennakottil Street.

                              Dutch Style Building In Gandhi Bazaar Road.(Above & Below)

A New Orleans French Quarter Like Building,Godown Street, Market Road.

Palace Lodge Built In 1964 Was Also Designed On New Orleans French Architecture. 

Ashoka Lodge Building Was Built In Parisian Haussman Architecture.

A Parisian Style Decorated Windows & Balcony In A Vadakkanthara Village House.

              Two French Style Parisian Buildings In Court Road Built In The Period 1930's- 40s.                                                                        (Above & Below)

An Italian Renaissance Style Bungalow @ Traveller's Bungalow Road Near BSNL Main Building.Built In 1948.

A Colonial Bungalow In Mettupalayam Street.

Traveller's Bungalow In T.B.Road Was Built By British To Accomodate Their Guests. Made By Mixing Kerala Palatial & Venetian Palazzo Styles In 1850's. 

Parali Higher Secondary School Is A Perfect Venetian- Keralite Mixed Styled Building Made In Early 1900's.

Devi Vilasom Palace Was Built For Kollengode Rajas In College Road, Palakkad By Fusing Indian & Italian Renaissance Styles In 19th Century A.D. Kollengode Rajas Were Very Powerful & Rich Even When British Were Dominating Palakkad.He Had One Main Palace & Two Small Palaces In The Cities Of Palghat & Thrissur.

Kollengode Palace, Thrissur.

Kollengode Palace, (Main Grand Palace Situated @ Kollengode In Chittur Taluk, Palakkad) Is One Of The Most Luxurious, Beautiful & Largest Royal Palaces In India Or Perhaps The World.Now Owned By CGH Earth Group, Renamed As 'Kalari Kovilakam Health Resort'.