The Newsletter | No.

57 | Summer 2011

26 | The Focus: Cultural Heritage

The colonial bungalow in India

The roots of the bungalow in India lie in the early attempts
of British military engineers in the eighteenth century to design
a standardised and permanent dwelling based on indigenous
domestic structures for the East India Company when the
British were still traders in the subcontinent. In its later version,
the archetypal bungalow in the nineteenth century consisted
of a low, one-storey, spacious building, internally divided, having
a symmetrical layout with a veranda all around, situated in a large
compound. This basic model was also adopted with modifications
almost everywhere British imperial rule existed at that time.
Miki Desai and Madhavi Desai

1: Evidence of European
influence on traditional
dwellings of the Bonra
community in Gujarat.

Critically speaking, the bungalow as a house form is a

contested concept of heritage in the Indian context. It is often
perceived in scholarly discourses as a building type with a
strong imperial ancestry. It was a counter concept to the more
or less socially-geared, collective lifestyle that was manifest in
the urban and rural dwellings of a vast number of indigenous
settlements of India. At the same time, traditional house types
with a resemblance to the bungalow do exist in West Bengal,
Karnataka and Kerala, but the context was not similar to those
belonging to British residents. Thus, anchoring the bungalow
as an Indian heritage appears at first glance to be problematic.
However, there is another dimension to this phenomenon.
During the late nineteenth century, Indian elites and
pro-fessionals saw the British bungalow lifestyle as something
to emulate. By the 1930s the bungalow had become a model
that was augmented and personalised by the middle classes.
Socially and politically fostering the idea of a house in the
centre of a plot, this popular type got transformed in different
regions of India. Thus, an imperial socio-political house concept
metamorphosed in the colonial and postcolonial period into
a widely popular and aesthetically rich cultural icon. It became
a part of the mindset of the populace and developed many
socio-cultural meanings along with spatial, stylistic and
technological variations, terminating in the modernist house.
However, with increasing land pressures since the 1970s,
other housing types such as apartments became more
widespread. In the twenty-first century, these bungalows
have become significant symbols representing a socio-cultural
past that is fast disappearing as a result of rapid population
growth and accelerated urbanisation. Colonial bungalows,
with their staggering regional variation and expression, have
yet to receive adequate recognition as valuable heritage.
In India, architectural conservation efforts and awareness
are still framed by the legacy of colonial archaeology
consequently; the governments efforts are largely limited
to the classical Hindu, Indo-Islamic and Buddhist monuments.
The domestic genre remains marginalised, and there is still
a vast lacuna in the state of related knowledge and a lack of
general awareness and sensitivity. In the recent past, colonial
public buildings have been grudgingly accepted as heritage.
However, the bungalow remains threatened, as it finds space
in neither any discourses nor policy matters, with a few exceptions such as the imperial bungalows in New Delhi. This article
attempts to frame the meaning and significance of colonial
period bungalows against the states notion of national monuments in India, urging for a re-interpretation of the concept
of heritage from an Indian as well as an Asian perspective.
Traditional urban housing in India
Differences in climate, topography and geology gave
the indigenous settlements and dwellings of India a varied
regional character. The majority were walled cities with
a fort built during medieval times for defence. Their morphology was characterised by an organic built form where the
indigenous dwelling formed the primary unit of the urban
fabric. They had narrow winding streets on a pedestrian
scale, a high degree of functional (private and commercial)
mix, and inward looking residential clusters with courtyards
which reflected Indias social norms in domestic life. There
was high population density and an intensive utilisation
of land with close groupings of thick-walled houses.

The community-oriented layout reflected inherited

cultural identities and status based on caste, occupation
and religion. These traditional dwellings and settlements
still exist today, albeit in a modified form; however, they are
yet to be recognised as living heritage. The early impact of
colonial culture was felt on these traditional settlements and
dwellings in myriad ways, especially in the facades, as seen
in the Bohra houses of Gujarat (photo 1). When the bungalow
was adopted as a preferred house type, the form was in sharp
contrast to the traditional dwelling. [It went]from a one-,
two- or more storeyed, courtyard type dwelling, with rooms
giving inward onto the courtyard, and structurally joined
to similar houses on one or more sides, to a free standing,
courtyard-less, outward-facing, one- or two storeyed
European-style bungalow.2

to be healthier and was socially preferred. Set in a compound,

it was also climatically suitable as it allowed a freer circulation
of the prevailing winds.

The colonial bungalow

Broadly speaking, there were two bungalow categories:
the urban and the rural. The latter were inhabited by
British residents of India such as managers of various kinds
of plantations or factories. They also included the dak
bungalows (government guest houses, usually in remote
localities) and other dwelling structures that were spread
all over the districts of British India.

Our narrative brings to the fore some of the major developments in the house forms found in the five cities mentioned
above. The few examples that remain today in the cities
of India should be part of the conservation agenda as
they express socio-cultural changes and are a record of
the political history of Indian society in the colonial period,
as the following descriptions will show.

We will now discuss the regional variants of the bungalow

that developed in the great colonial cities of Calcutta (now
Kolkata), Madras (now Chennai), New Delhi, Bangalore (now
Bengaluru), and Bombay (now Mumbai). In general, elements
were borrowed from the original colonial bungalow type, the
encircling veranda was modified as an informal entrance space,
and a courtyard was often introduced as a traditional Indian
architectural device. While most families seem to have embraced the bungalow as a new form of house, they continued
to live their daily lives according to local traditional mores
within its shell, as social change was slower and more difficult.

In urban areas, large pieces of land adjacent to the city were

reserved by the British for their cantonment and civil lines.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the bungalow,
set in a spacious lot, was the norm as the residential house
type for British military officers associated with the Indian
Army, colonial administrators and business people as well
as a small group of wealthy Indian elites. The early bungalows
were austere, with simple volumes and a stark whitewashed
finish. This basic model developed into a more European
classical form in outward appearance as time passed. It was
symmetrical in form and largely so in spatial organisation.
It had a hall in the centre and rooms on each side of the hall,
and a veranda in front facing the garden and sometimes also
on both sides (photo 2). The kitchen and servants quarters
were separate in most instances.
More elaborate types emerged on the scene in the nineteenth century to indicate the superior social position of its
British owners. The veranda also disappeared from the sides
and remained only in the front and at times in the back.
The bungalow with its Doric, and later Tuscan, columns on
the facade holding up the roof became a symbol of not only
the evolution of the Indian prototype into a European building
form but also of the commercial and the military might of
Britain. The labour of building the bungalows was supplied
by Indian craftsmen and contractors. Therefore, the physical
fabric of the bungalow remained rooted in Indian architectural traditions in spite of changes in the construction materials,
technology and practices.3 The bungalow, though initially
designed for an alien people, reflected the cultural bases of
the Indian population among whom it was found. This type
did not undergo much modification in the twentieth century.
Few of these bungalows have survived in independent India,
mainly in the military controlled cantonments.
Middle class adoption and regionalisation
By the beginning of the twentieth century, the bungalow as a
generic building type influenced domestic architecture across
the country. Its dispersed settlement pattern was considered

During the late

nineteenth century,
Indian elites and
professionals
saw the British
bungalow lifestyle
as something to
emulate. By the
1930s the bungalow had become
a model that was
augmented and
personalised by
the middle classes.

Kolkata: Rajbaris
Kolkata served as the capital of the East India Company from
1772 to 1911 during the British Raj era. From the late eighteenth century, the local elites/petty aristocrats from among
the regions native Bengalis were courted by the British to
serve as a comprador class of zamindars (landlords) who
collected revenue on land. Their assistance to the colonial
administrative system reaped rich benefits they owned large
properties and came to be known as the Great Families of
Kolkata. This association generated a unique urban typology
in the nineteenth century in the form of opulent residences
called Rajbaris in Kolkata. These mansions were intended to
compete with and match the scale and grandeur of British
architecture. Located on large grounds, the Rajbari expressed
British colonial ideas of siting and spatiality while simultaneously responding to the traditional life style of the zamindars.
The building had a courtyard with the thakur dalan, the
temple of God. It was in the colonnaded portico, the facades
and the furnishings that the building showed the adaptation
of British forms to Indian norms. Displaying neo-classical
facades and strong European influences in their visual character, the Rajbaris were planned as twin- or multiple-courtyard
houses which addressed the need for gender segregation
and strict social hierarchy in a Bengali joint family. Over time,
British trappings in terms of furniture and furnishing were
added.4 The Rajbari mansion is unusual and important as a
house form that has come about through historic synthesis
of the local and colonial cultures. The mansions are difficult
to maintain by todays nuclear families and are being replaced
or are gradually falling apart without attention and awareness
and in the absence of urban conservation policies.
Chennai: Garden houses
Madras was one of the three provinces originally established
by the British East India Company. In 1684, it was elevated
to a Presidency which included much of southern India.
Chennai was its port city and trading centre. The last quarter
of the eighteenth century was a period of rapid expansion
for Chennai which gave rise to an indigenous colonial model
of a palatial mansion called the garden house.5 It was the

The Newsletter | No.57 | Summer 2011

The Focus: Cultural Heritage | 27

A postcolonial cultural interpretation towards heritage 1

2 (left): A typical
colonial bungalow.
3 (above): A garden
house in Chennai.
4 (right): A bungalow
in Bangalore.

early suburban home of the British, an exclusive residence

that stood in the centre of a large landscaped plot in the
picturesque tradition. While the first houses were rather
plain, simple and massive, the garden house grew to be more
ornate as time went by, with stylistic variations. It was an
amalgam of the cantonment bungalow and the European villa
(photo 3). To its rear were servants quarters, stables and often
cowsheds, while in front was a lawn with flowering shrubs and
trees where garden parties were held and tennis or croquet
was played. The houses were spacious and symmetrical with
colonnaded verandas in the front and at the back. The porch
was a commodious, major feature. Designed in Neo-Classical
style, the garden house was built as a solid masonry structure
in lime plaster with the use of European elements such as
pediments and balustrades. These houses were later bought
by the zamindars and rajahs who more or less continued the
British lifestyle. In the post-Independence period, a few were
modernised and renovated for contemporary functions.
The garden houses, though colonial in origin, have special
local and regional value as Indian heritage.
New Delhi: Imperial bungalows
The capital of the British Raj shifted from Kolkata to Delhi
in 1911 and an extensive urban design addition (called New
Delhi) was constructed between 1913 and 1930. A range of
bungalows were built here, located on tree-lined roads in
what is known as the Lutyens Bungalow Zone after Sir Edwin
Lutyens, the principal architect of the new capital. While
earlier bungalows were built of stone by local masons, New
Delhis bungalows were mostly built of brick and lime mortar
and plastered. By the 1930s, many were built on vast pieces
of virgin land for British legislators and civil servants, others
for the Indian nobility, professionals and senior officials in
the colonial administration and the legal system. The size
and characteristics of each bungalow were commensurate
with the occupants position in the imperial communitys
socio-economic and political hierarchy. Most bungalows were
of only one storey with a porch in front, and had tall columns
and arches. They also had elaborate fireplaces and finelycrafted colonial furniture. A few bungalows that belonged to
elite Indians included a courtyard as an exception. The facade
was treated in a simple classical manner Tuscan rather than
Romantic Revival was in vogue at the time. Classical columns
became symbols of the European heritage and of good taste.
Today, the top government officials and politicians in power
have chosen to live almost the same lifestyle. These imperial
bungalows from the late colonial period have become the
carriers of a socio-political mindset that has endured to the
present time.
Bengaluru: Carpenter Gothic bungalows
Bengaluru was the largest military cantonment town of
the British Raj in Southern India and was part of the Madras
Presidency region. It was founded in the early nineteenth
century; later the town flourished as a military station as well

The bungalow,
though initially
designed for
an alien people,
reflected the
cultural bases
of the Indian
population
among whom
it was found.

as an administrative and residential centre.6 Around 1883,

the cantonment was enlarged by the addition of Richmond
Town, Benson Town and Cleveland Town where a number
of bungalows were built for military officers or for retired
Britons. Many bungalow designs in Bengaluru were inspired
by what was going on in Europe and the Americas, as the
Carpenter Gothic style began to influence public buildings
and institutions there. From the 1880s to the 1930s
these bungalows became taller and assumed a Romantic
expression, with steeply pitched roofs whether or not
they were required for climatic reasons. Most examples
possessed symmetrical plans that invariably had a central
hall. The facades received maximum attention. Cast iron
were used for railings, brackets and pillars. The porches
of the bungalows were prominent with sloping roofs and
fretwork infill (photo 4). Gradually, the Carpenter Gothic style
was adapted by the locals as the town grew. The Bengaluru
Monkey-Tops, as the bungalows are popularly known, are a
record of not just socio-cultural but also craft history which
is unique to the region. With the rapid growth in the twentyfirst century of Bengaluru as the Silicon Valley of India, these
fine examples are threatened by real estate speculation
and city redevelopment plans as urban land prices soar.
Mumbai: Suburban Art Deco bungalows
The trading centre of Mumbai became an important port
town after the takeover by the British Crown in 1858, growing
into a leading metropolis by the time of Independence in 1947.
In the late nineteenth century, wealthier classes built garden
city type bungalows in up-market areas of South Mumbai.
By the mid-1930s, the city expanded extensively into newly
developed suburbs.7 Their infrastructural network prompted
rapid residential growth where the bungalow (and even a
villa-type house) became a popular choice of the middle class.
Though earlier bungalows were somewhat similar to the ones
in Bangalore, Art Deco became the preferred style towards the
1940s and flat roofs, made possible by reinforced concrete,
began to be associated with modernity. The Art Deco style was
featured on facades and in interior details. Curved balconies,
bay windows, decorative surfaces, vertical and horizontal
mouldings and patterned floorings gave them the ambience
and modern language of that time.8 The remaining Art Deco
bungalows in Mumbai arguably superior to the examples
found in Miami, Florida are excellent examples of craftsmanship and early modernist principles and require an
urgent conservation awareness and policy in view of the
fast growth of this megacity.
Standard bungalows
Other cities and towns of India were likewise dotted with
regional variations of bungalows, large and small. During the
twentieth century, these went through stylistic and technological transformations while responding to socio-economic
changes. Internal forces, such as the nationalistic fervour
arising from the long drawn-out freedom struggle against
British colonial rule and the making of New Delhi, affected
their design. In addition, stylistic influences from continental
Europe and America resulted in the adoption of Art Deco and
Streamline Moderne features, followed by the International
Style. With the arrival of Le Corbusier, the principles of the
Modern Movement dominated the post-Independence era
and the bungalow became a favourite modern option for
the individual homeowner. Thus, the simple cantonment
bungalow finally terminated in the modernist house.

Heritage value
Thus, bungalows constitute a very special and unique
typology in India, with a strong cultural/historic position as
representatives of a by-gone era. Historically they symbolise
the individualisation of private property, a concept new to
the collective lifestyle of traditional societies in India. Over
a period of time they were absorbed into Indian society, the
imperial roots long forgotten. The bungalow faces many
problems of survival in the twenty-first century. For example,
the maintenance and upkeep of the buildings and gardens
have become the most nagging problem for the owners, and
the law of inheritance and division of properties is causing
socio-political confusion and fracture among the families.
An analysis of the transition between the colonial and
postcolonial periods, using the bungalow as a phenomenon,
would provide an excellent opportunity to investigate a
number of questions regarding the built environment and
its relation to society. In the Indian context, the failure to
understand the bungalows origins and evolution with its
deeper social and cultural connections has brought about
weak descriptions of its position in urban geography. In the
twentyfirst century, in view of the forces of globalisation and
market economy, indigenous insights into the understanding
and preservation/adaptation of this heritage will assist in
meeting the contemporary challenges of not only filling the
housing needs of the country but also issues of urban design
and planning from a local or Asian perspective.
Miki Desai
CEPT University & Archicrafts Foundation, Ahmedabad, India
mmdesai2@gmail.com
Madhavi Desai
Archicrafts Foundation, Ahmedabad, India
mmdesai2@gmail.com

Notes
1 This article is based on the forthcoming publication:
Desai, Madhavi, Miki Desai and Jon Lang, The Bungalow in
Twentieth Century India: The Cultural Expression of Changing
Ways of Life and Aspirations in the Domestic Architecture
of Colonial and Post-Colonial Society, Ashgate, UK.
All photographs are by Miki Desai.
2 King, Anthony D. 1984. The Bungalow: The Production of
a Global Culture. New York: Oxford University Press, p.51.
3 Glover, William. 2004. A Feeling of Absence from Old England:
The Colonial Bungalow. In Home Cultures 1 (1) Berg.
4 Bose, Kamalika 2008. Seeking the Lost Layers: An Inquiry into
the Traditional Dwellings of the Urban Elite in North Calcutta.
Ahmedabad: SID Research Cell, CEPT University.
5 Muthiah, S. 2004. Madras Rediscovered. Chennai:
EastWest Books (Madras) Pvt. Ltd., p.91.
6 Staley, Elizabeth. 1981. Monkey Tops: Old Buildings
in Bangalore Cantonment. Bangalore: Tara Books, p.7.
7 Dwivedi, Sharada & Rahul Mehrotra. 2001. Bombay: the Cities
Within. Mumbai: Eminence Designs Pvt. Ltd., p.243.
8 Dwivedi, Sharada & Rahul Mehrotra. 2008. Bombay Deco.
Mumbai: Eminence Designs Pvt. Ltd.