Two buildings in Chennai were commissioned to mark Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee. One, the National Gallery in Egmore, dazzled with Indo-Saracenic elements. The other, Victoria Public Hall, went plainer and more European.

Built in 1887 and once called the Town Hall, the red-brick hall was meant for public gatherings, celebrations and cultural events. Its layout is Romanesque, but look up for a tall Gothic Revival tower and a terracotta frieze inspired by Islamic calligraphy.

VoiceMap’s tours use the hall to push back on the idea that Chennai was only an overgrown village. In the 1930s, they show, Park Town had public buildings and parks like any city centre.