A herd of cows grazes under the shade of trees at the entrance of the Avatihalli railway station, to the north of Bengaluru, lazily swishing their tails to ward off the occasional fly that has decided to brave the blazing afternoon heat. A little ahead is the station house, a charming lime-yellow building with a terracotta roof and grey stone pillars, on whose walls are pasted both a train timetable and a small plaque announcing that the station, which falls under the South Western Railway zone, was restored in October 2022 by the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), Bengaluru.

Avatihall is one of four heritage stations — the others being Doddajala, Devanahalli, and Nandi, along the KSR Bengaluru-Chikaballapur-Kolar railway line, which have recently been restored by the Bengaluru chapter of INTACH.