In 1864, a Broad Gauge Railway line between Bangalore Cantonment and Jolarpettai in Tamil Nadu's Vellore District was established by the Madras Railway Company and opened for traffic in Aug 1864. This railway link and the Bangalore Mail was the turning point in the history of Bangalore.
In 1865, Sri. V. Govind Chettiar, a businessman, had a noble thought: Travellers coming into Bangalore by rail needed food and a place to stay, so he started construction of a Chatram (a place where travellers could rest and get free food) on a large parcel of land measuring close to 2.33 lakh sq.ft. which he had acquired on Thimmaiah Road, Cantonment area close to the railway station out of his own personal funds.
While the construction of the chatram was in progress Sri V. Govinda Chettiar saw a vision and was guided to build a temple for Lord Shiva in the form of Kasi Vishwanatheswara within the same property where the chatram was being built.
In 1869, he set off to Kasi to get the idol of Lord Shiva and his consort Visalakshi Devi sculpted. He found specialist sculptors who used stone from the Himalayas to create the idols. He personally carried the idols on a three month journey on a bullock cart back to Bangalore. In 1872 the idols were installed in the temple along with the chatram.