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Interior

2019

Photographer : Avesh Gaur

Padmanabham, located in Janpath in New Delhi, is a restaurant specializing in traditional South Indian cuisine. Amidst a bustling street filled with the bistros and bars, the client wanted the restaurant to stand out within the hospitality milieu. The client's firm belief in Lord Vishnu is the inspiration behind this eatery and its name based on Lord Vishnu's incarnation Padmanabha, where "Padma"™ means lotus and "Nabha" means navel. In its entirety, it means lotus in the navel, which was the notion behind the design of this restaurant. The design aims at weaving together an authentic experience for the visitor, using traditional elements in a contemporary setting.

The property is situated on the ground floor, in a corner of the famous colonnade structure of Connaught Place. This colonial structure, built during 1930s, was planned as a mixed use development to accommodate shops at the bottom. This posed as a challenge since the length of the space was seven times the width, making it a linear plot. Along with that, the height varied from 20" at the front to 8" in the centre and 12" at the rear, as joined together.

Based on the Chettiar culture of Tamil Nadu, known for its colours, ornate wooden elements and motifs' the interior of the place portrays this traditional setup in an idealistic manner. As one walks through the restaurant, they are met various elaborately detailed and embellished features including wooden handicrafts and paintings. The columns and golden brackets rising into the ceiling embody lotuses in the form of mandalas. "Mandala" means circle in Sanskrit, and they hold sacred significance in Hinduism related to health and wellbeing. Each colour and band represents virtues like meditation, mindfulness and wisdom.

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Architects	:	Urban Mistrii
Year	:	2019
Website	:	https://www.instagram.com/urbanmistrii/?hl=en

As one walks through the restaurant, they are met various elaborately detailed and embellished features including wooden handicrafts and paintings.

The selective colours for the palate were teal and beige with a dual tone for walls and a combination of Attangudi tiles on floors.

Based on the Chettiar culture of Tamil Nadu, known for its colours, ornate wooden elements and motifs" the interior of the place portrays this traditional setup in an idealistic manner.

In other parts, pop relief work in the form of lotus flowers rising up from a pond adds subtlety to the ambience.

The columns were specially shipped from Chettinad, Tamil Nadu to portray authenticity and the flooring was customised by using Ratnagiri tiles.

An artwork almost spanning the length of the central seating area depicts the lifecycle and ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu along with floral motifs.

"Mandala" means circle in Sanskrit, and they hold sacred significance in Hinduism related to health and wellbeing. Each colour and band represents virtues like meditation, mindfulness and wisdom.

The golden lighting fixtures along the nave were intended to stand out as a striking feature and represent a blooming lotus adding a sense of prosperity and purity.