Church Street's Kasuti Makeover

Bengaluru’s favourite hangout venue, Church Street, gets adorned with Kasuti patterns in its newly-paved, cobblestone avatar.

The idea of cobblestones is not new to the city, but for the first time, Kasuti patterns can be seen on these stones. Kasuti or Karnataki Kashida is a traditional hand-embroidery form that originated in North Karnataka.

To break the monotony of fan-shaped simple patterns and also to incorporate the heritage of Karnataka, Kasuti designs have been used. Naresh Narasimhan, architect and urban designer says “Cobblestones are laid in a “fan-shaped” pattern abroad. We wanted to bring in an innovative design, so I approached people through social media for suggestions. Fashion Guru Prasad Bidapa suggested using Kasuti patterns".

A quick research on Kasuti designs helped Naresh to work on incorporating symmetrical geometric Kasuti patterns on cobblestones. "It is difficult to put up complex patterns on stone. So we chose a simple design employing black and white colors. We did a test a few days back and it looks good, so we will be using that pattern for the complete street,” he added.

The first pedestrian-oriented street in Bengaluru has attracted both pedestrians and shopkeepers with its new makeover. “This is the first time I am seeing such patterns on streets, it is very attractive. It will be more interesting if more colours can be added to the patterns,” says Sunny, a street vendor.

Parmesh, a shopkeeper says “The new look adds to the beauty of the street, I hope the work is completed soon”. Deepak Batavia, president, Church Street Shop Owners’ Association, says "The Kasuti patterns add to the aesthetics, as they are using maroon color for footpath borders".

BBMP’s chief engineer, Project Central, KT Nagaraj, said “ When I heard about the idea to put Kasuti pattern on the cobblestones, I liked it. It will be the first time in the city this kind of creative initiative is taken. I hope we get a good response from the people and will implement in other roads too.”