In the sea of usual sleek European furniture that today dominate most design fairs, a brand that pursues a differentiated design aesthetic stands out. No wonder then that, with its ‘ethos to make well-crafted pieces of furniture for traditional interiors that are sustainable and have a global appeal’ – stunningly beautiful blends of largely statement pieces inspired from the south of India, especially Kerala – Temple Town was an instant attraction!
“Temple Town offers a complete lifestyle from a modern Indian perspective,” says founder and designer Meera Pyarelal. “It offers a wide range of bespoke services, from one-off furniture to complete designing and execution for an entire home or apartment. You can customise from one single piece of furniture right up to an entire home or apartment. The designing philosophy is to make well-crafted pieces of furniture for traditional interiors that are sustainable and have a global appeal.”
Based in Thrissur, the culture capital of Kerala, Temple Town’s vision is to promote local art, artifacts and handicrafts. “Be it locally from Kerala and all over the country, the idea is to promote it and in putting it all together,” adds Pyarelal. “As a country, India has so much art from all over and at Temple Town, we love to bring these colours and textures while using it with modern elements of the west and latest designs and technologies.” With an eye on sustainability, every piece of furniture at Temple Town is made from recycled wood or responsibly sourced local teak wood.
Temple Town’s journey started rather organically in 1999, when Pyarelal’s mother discovered her love for interiors while doing her apartment and the need for quality furniture arose. “She set up a small unit in our garage. After two decades of earning a name in the interiors industry, she conceived her own brand called Temple Town – with the aim of designing and manufacturing sophisticated pieces of colonial furniture. The objective of the store is to preserve and promote traditional Indian designs and craftsmanship, which is slowly getting lost in the sands of time.”
Today, the brand operates out of a studio in her family home in Thrissur and a just launched flagship store in Kochi. Her husband, owner and chief radiologist at Elite Mission Hospital, K.C. Pyarelal, and two children, Harishankar and Parvati, are increasingly part of the venture in varying ways.
New home
After decades of being based in Thrissur, the brand recently has expanded by launching its flagship store at the Museum of Kerala History, at Edappally, in downtown Kochi. Spread across 8,000 sq ft, the immersive two-level store has been created by renovating an old Kerala house.
Apart from furniture and interior design, the store houses home decor accessories including cushions, lights, paintings, arts and fabrics, under the same roof. From opulent furniture pieces to intricately designed home accessories, the Temple Town flagship store has a diverse array of offerings to cater to various tastes and style preferences.
“The store shows the evolution of Temple Town as a brand,” explains Pyarelal. “Since it’s our flagship store, it’s twice the size as well. And, it’s not designed just as a show-room, it’s designed as a house. It’s done that way in order for people to really understand our Indian design language and how it would feel for a customer when they walk in, like, living in a house designed by us, replete with a living room, dining, bedroom, game room, everything as it is.”
Colonial vibe vs modern luxury
The main difference between Temple Town and other design studios is the fact that the product is customised according to the customers’ ideas, explains Pyarelal. “It starts with giving a design idea, a mood board and then the final product. So, that piece wouldn’t be mass manufactured and would be unique to that house. For us, it’s people who like our style, who prefer a traditional colonial vibe mixed with Western European luxury. We only handle projects for the luxury segment of clients, which is the top one per cent of every city in India – people who appreciate Indian culture and want to preserve heritage, but also mix it with western queues and fabric. We rarely do fully straight-line contemporary minimal.”
“We are definitely not part of the minimal gang. We do more, detailed work, a bit more maximal, but not in a way that it’s too much for the eye. Everything is elegant and peaceful at the same time,” she adds.
Pyarelal notes that the preferences change every few years. “There was a time when everybody wanted straight line Scandinavian furniture. However, today people are going back to their roots. They want to have something that is a part of their culture and history. Everyone’s keen to promote more Indian, colonial or old traditional design and artifacts. People want some meaning in their house because otherwise after a point, every five-star hotel also looks like a modern house. People want something different now, which is a mix of both. Quality and exclusivity is what people are looking for because they don’t want the mass manufactured items. For the kind of clients we have, who are mostly people interested in luxury, with higher prices, it is important that they get exactly what they want or what they have in mind.”
The brand does projects in the south of India, though furniture can be sent everywhere in India, and abroad as well. It plans to open a store in Bengaluru next and eventually be present in all the cities in the south.
Best of both worlds
Temple Town, the brand of choice in the most luxurious of homes across the southern part of the country today, has carved a niche for itself. In a contemporary set up, the brand mixes straight-line wooden furniture with Indian art forms or antiques making it chic. “Colonial furniture is the best collaboration between the East and west, says Pyarelal. “Similarly, any design classic can be mixed with an Indian piece and yet hold its own charm. The only way to establish Indian designs is to make ourselves be seen on an international level, connect our artisans with the international market and offer competitive prices on quality products.”
Of course, one of the ways in which the pieces stand out is that they are often bespoke and one of a kind. “Our furniture is not mass produced so the beauty of our pieces lies in their unique design aesthetic, each piece standing out. The ideal example would be our stone bed made of a stone granite pillar, with rattan and wood. Even the upholstery that we’ve used on the bed makes a big difference. And that is all made in our own workshop. It was a unique piece that debuted in India Design ID in 2021. And I consider it our signature piece of art.”