A Village Makes the Style Its Own

In villages such as Dharmaj in Gujarat, glimpses of Art Deco can be seen even today, signalling its far-reaching influence

- Avantika Bhuyan

"Zamindars, or wealthy landowners, saw Art Deco style come up in cities and got their homes constructed in a similar style. I have seen such instances in rural Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Rajasthan. That was the kind of spread that this style had," says Hyderabad-based architect Srinivas Murthy, who runs Architecture and Design Foundation India to create awareness about good design. "And when the relatively well-off village residents saw the sarpanch or zamindar turn to Art Deco, they too followed suit."

Dharmaj, a village in Anand in Gujarat, stands as an example of Art Deco architecture and design being a symbol of aspiration and cosmopolitanism in non-urban areas in the mid-20th century. The village has nearly 120 Art Deco buildings dating to the 1930s and 1940s, most of them residences—a large number for a village with a population of just about 11,000 even in the 2011 census.