The Governor's Bungalow (Sulur House) of Coimbatore, TN, once owned by the Sulur family: Now restored

Navrang India March 26, 2025
Governor’s Bungalow, coimbatore thehindu.com

Governor’s Bungalow, coimbatore thehindu.com

Above images: The Governor's Bungalow, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, once owned by the popular Sulur family. This old colonial style two story structure was restored in the recent pas. The PWD tookcare of the restoration work with meticulous care by following old traditional methods as they adopted in Kuthirai Vandi Court  Building on the Avinashi Road, Coimbatore.  Pillars are both masonry on the ground land upper floor and wood in some parts. A Madras terraced structure, the wooden stairway with rails is carefully handled. High ceiling and wide veranda with large windows add the slanting tiled roofs on the upper floor add typical colonial flavor.  In some parts the tiled roof on the ground floor, the ceiling is supported by wooden pillars all along  the front edges. The bungalow is set in a spacious  land with plenty of open space......

There are  several old colonial buildings like Victoria Town hall (built in 1892, turned 130 years in 2022; restored recently) in this sprawling industrial city of Coimbatore that is the gateway to the Nilgiri hills and hill resort s like Coonoor, Wellington and ooty.  Ooty.  The PWD was restoring some old structures in the city and one of them is   what is called Governor’s Bungalow.

Located on  on Trichy Road, it a two story structure with wide arches and spacious hall and rooms. It belongs to '' the Sulur House family that once owned 3500 plus acres of land in the prime areas of Coimbatore,” according to one   Sri Rajesh Govindarajulu, a city historian.  The family, native of Mysore kingdom (now karnataka) migrated to this place in the 18th century.They were charitable and owned properties on the Race Course road. Purchased by that family in 1891, on that land the Cosmopolitan Club  came up later..

Hailing from that illustrious family one  Sulur Narasimha Iyer was the  first Diwan Bahadur from that area; a title bestowed on him by the Brutish. He  donated many lands for the expansion of  civic work  in Coimbatore
 
 The bungalow called  the Sulur Subba Rao bungalow, hosted many government officials. The then Governor in 1940s Arthur Hope  and a host of many officials were entertained in that palace. The bungalow, provided with right ambiance to invite dignitaries could handle high  government  officials, including their  entourage - like translators, secretaries and cooks, etc.,  according to Sri  Rajesh
 
The restored old heritage  buildings structures can be put to other uses. This particular old bungalow  can house museums, restaurants, art and crafts  sections, etc to show this region's culture and traditional artworks. Such museums or exhibitions  will be useful to the posterity to understand the past history subjectively. Based on the following article published in 'The Hindu'.