Our Heritage
Doddanna Hall (1905)
Bangalore's first great public venue at Kalasipalyam
A multi-purpose civic gift
Built in 1905 at Kalasipalyam in KR Market, Doddanna Hall was a school by day, a public meeting hall by evening, and a cinema by night — designed so the building would serve the city every hour it was open.
The city's only indoor venue
Until the Bangalore Town Hall opened in 1935, Doddanna Hall was the only large indoor public venue in the city. Civic meetings, weddings, lectures and freedom-movement gatherings were all hosted under its roof.
Paramount Theatre & Kannada cinema
The hall was later renamed Paramount Theatre and became part of Kannada film history — it screened Sati Sulochana (1934), the very first Kannada talkie, to packed audiences from across the old city.
A landmark of KR Market
Generations of Bangaloreans grew up associating Kalasipalyam with Doddanna Hall. The site remains a reference point for the neighbourhood and a reminder of the philanthropist who built it.