What to See in Chennai - Top Sights and Attractions

Amusement park in Chennai, India. VGP Universal Kingdom is an amusement park located in East Coast Road in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. The park offering small rides during the early days of its history became a full-fledged amusement park in 1997. VGP Universal kingdom, spread over 44 verdant acres provides several fun and adventure rides for children, youth and adults, including Attractions such as our very own Statue Man, Tamil Nadu's first Snow park, Petting Zoo, Beach Live Shows, Paneer fort, a massive water complex and more. VGP 2000 millennium tower, Water cascades, Paneer fort and statueman are some of the main attractions. The park is owned by VGP Group of Companies founded by V. G. Panneerdas and V.G.Ravidas is its managing director. Food and drink are available within the park.^[1]

Basilica and shrine of St. Thomas Apostle. San Thome Church, is known as St. Thomas Cathedral Basilica and National Shrine of Saint Thomas, is a Roman Catholic minor basilica in the Santhome neighbourhood of the city of Madras, in Tamil Nadu, India. The present structure dates to 1523 AD, when it was built by the Portuguese, over the tomb of Thomas the Apostle, one of the apostles of Jesus. In 1896, it was rebuilt in British Madras according to Neo-Gothic style, as was favoured by British architects in the late 19th century. This church is one of the three known churches in the world built over the tomb of an apostle of Jesus that are still standing today, the other two being St Peter's Basilica in Vatican City and Santiago de Compostela Cathedral in Galicia, Spain. In antiquity, there was a basilica built over the tomb of the Apostle Philip in Hierapolis of Phrygia, near modern day Pamukkale.^[3]

Hindu temple in Chennai, India. Kapaleeshwarar Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to lord Shiva located in Mylapore, Chennai in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The form of Shiva's consort Parvati worshipped at this temple is called Karpagambal is from Tamil. The temple was built around the 7th century CE and is an example of Dravidian architecture.

According to the Puranas, Shakti worshipped Shiva in the form of a peacock, giving the vernacular name Mylai (Mayilāi) to the area that developed around the temple - mayil is Tamil for "peacock". Shiva is worshiped as Kapaleeswarar, and is represented by the lingam. His consort Parvati is depicted as Karpagambal. The presiding deity is revered in the 7th century Tamil Saiva canonical work, the Tevaram, written by Tamil saint poets known as the Nayanars and classified as Paadal Petra Sthalam.

The temple has numerous shrines, with those of Kapaleeswarar and Karpagambal being the most prominent. The temple complex houses many halls. The temple has six daily rituals at various times from 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. and four yearly festivals on its calendar. The Arubathimoovar festival celebrated during the Tamil month of Panguni as part of the ப்ரஹ்மோத்சவம் is the most prominent festival in the temple.

The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu.^[4]

Museum in Chennai, India. The Chennai Rail Museum is a railway museum in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. The museum opened on 16 April 2002 in the Furnishing Division of the Integral Coach Factory near Perambur. The 6.25-acre museum has technical and heritage exhibits, with a sizable collection of steam engines from the British Raj. It also has vintage coaches, which were endemic on Indian railways. Most of the older models were manufactured by the North British Locomotive Company, with some trains in the collection dating back more than a century. Toy-train rides are available. There are 3 air-conditioned Indoor Galleries (ICF Gallery, Rail History Gallery, Art Gallery, 2 Other Non-airconditioned Galleries, a 90-seater air-conditioned Dolby Digital Movie Theatre, Natyarangam, Amphitheatre, a Number of Metal Sculptures made from scrap, 3D MURAL at the entrance, Cartoon Hero Characters better viewed from the Joyous Toy Train Ride, Rail Coach Restaurant, Eco Green Park, Lust Green vegetation, etc. The museum is managed and maintained by the ICF.^[7]

Museum in Chennai, India. The Government Museum, Chennai, or the Madras Museum, is a museum of human history and culture located in the Government Museum Complex in the neighbourhood of Egmore in Chennai, India. Started in 1851, it is the second oldest museum in India after the Indian Museum in Kolkata. It is particularly rich in archaeological and numismatic collections. It has the largest collection of Roman antiquities outside Europe. Among them, the colossal Museum Theatre is one of the most impressive. The National Art Gallery is also present in the museum premises. Built in Indo-Saracenic style, it houses rare European and Asian painting of renowned artists, including that of Raja Ravi Varma. It had 0.6 million visitors in 2018. It has the richest collections of bronze idols, 500 of them dating to 1000 BCE, in Asia.^[8]

The Parthasarathy Temple is a 6th-century Hindu Vaishnavite temple dedicated to Vishnu, located at Thiruvallikeni, Chennai, India. The temple is glorified in the Divya Prabandha, the early medieval Tamil literature canon of the Alvar saints from the 6th to 9th centuries CE and is classified as among the 108 Divya Desams dedicated to Vishnu. The name 'Parthasarathy' means the 'charioteer of Arjuna', referring to Krishna's role as a charioteer to Arjuna in the epic Mahabaratha.

It was originally built by the Pallavas in the 6th century by king Narasimhavarman I. The temple has icons of five forms of Vishnu: Yoga Narasimha, Rama, Gajendra Varadaraja, Ranganatha and Krishna as Parthasarathy. The temple is one of the oldest structures in Chennai. There are shrines for Vedavalli Thayar, Ranganatha, Rama, Gajendra Varadar, Narasimha, Andal, Hanuman, Alvars, Ramanuja, Swami Manavala Mamunigal and Vedanthachariar. The temple subscribes to Vaikhanasa agama and follows Thenkalai tradition. There are separate entrances and Dwajastambhas for the Parthasarathy and Yoga Narasimha temples. The gopuram (towers) and mandapas (pillars) are decorated with elaborate carvings, a standard feature of South Indian Temple Architecture.^[12]

Planetarium in Chennai, India. B. M. Birla Planetarium is a large planetarium in Chennai providing a virtual tour of the night sky and holding cosmic shows on a specially perforated hemispherical aluminium inner dome. The fifth B. M. Birla planetarium in the country, it is located at Kotturpuram in the Periyar Science and Technology Centre campus which houses eight galleries, namely, Physical Science, Electronics and Communication, Energy, Life Science, Innovation, Transport, International Dolls and Children and Materials Science, with over 500 exhibits. Built in 1988 in the memory of the great industrialist and visionary of India B. M. Birla, it is the most modern planetarium in India. Other Birla planetariums in India include the M. P. Birla Planetarium in Kolkata, the Birla Planetarium in Hyderabad, and the planetariums in Tiruchirapalli and Coimbatore.^[18]

Hindu temple in Chennai, India. Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai is a monastic organisation for men brought into existence by Ramakrishna, a 19th-century saint of Bengal. The motto of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission is: "For one's own salvation, and for the welfare of the world". The math in Chennai is the first branch center of the Ramakrishna Order in Southern India. It was established in 1897 by Swami Ramakrishnananda, one of the direct disciples of Ramakrishna. Besides Swami Ramakrishnananda, the Math was visited by Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, Swami Brahmananda, Swami Nirmalananda, Swami Shivananda, Swami Abhedananda, Swami Premananda, Swami Niranjanananda, Swami Trigunatitananda, and Swami Vijnanananda.^[20]

Hindu temple in Chennai, India. Marundeeswarar Temple is a temple dedicated to Hindu deity Shiva, located in Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai adjacent to the beach of Bay of Bengal. It is one of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams and no Navagraha where the two of the most revered Nayanars, Appar and Tirugnana Sambandar have glorified the temple with their verses during the 7th–8th century CE. The temple has been widely expanded by Chola kings during the 11th century CE. The temple has two seven-tiered gateway towers, a huge tank, with the overall temple area covering 1 acre. The Marundeeswarar temple has been a place of curative worship for people with diseases.

The temple has six daily rituals at various times from 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. and twelve yearly festivals on its calendar. The present masonry structure was built during the Chola dynasty in the 9th century, while later expansions are attributed to Vijayanagar rulers. The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu. The latest consecration of the temple after renovation was performed during February 2020. The previous one was in May 2008.^[24]

Botanical garden in Chennai, India. Semmozhi Poonga, variously spelled as Semmoli Poonga, is a botanical garden in Chennai set up jointly by the Horticulture and Agricultural Engineering department of the Government of Tamil Nadu. The garden was opened on 24 November 2010 by then chief Minister M. Karunanidhi and is the first botanical garden in the city. The garden is located in the Cathedral Road–Anna Salai junction, opposite the American Consulate, on the erstwhile Drive-in Woodlands Hotel. Encompassing an area of 20 acres, it was built at a cost of ₹ 80 million. More than 500 species of plants are being grown in the area, in addition to the 80 trees that was already in existence during the development of the park, some of them being more than 100 years old. The garden houses some of the popular exotic flora and rare plant species, medicinal and aromatic herbs. Many of the exotic plants are imported from countries like China and Thailand, including a plethora of bonsai varieties of ficus microcarpa and ficus ginseng.^[28]

Shrine in Chennai, India. Church of Our Lady of Light is a Roman Catholic shrine in Chennai, India. It is commonly called as Luz Church by the locals, which derives from the Portuguese name Nossa Senhora da Luz. Built in 1516 by the Portuguese, it is one of the oldest Churches in the city and its foundation stone marks as one of the oldest European monuments in India. The history of the church dates back to the 16th-century legend of safe arrival to land by missionaries. The church is located very near to the Santhome Basilica, where Apostle Thomas is believed to be buried.

Although at the time the church was built, the locality was a thick forest, now it is part of a bustling metropolitan area. This 16th-century European-architecture building consists of patterns of Gothic arches and Baroque ornamentation. The feast of Our Lady of Light is celebrated on 15 August every year. On 15 August 2010, Church of Our Lady of Light was declared Shrine of Our Lady of Light by A. M. Chinnappa, Archbishop of Madras-Mylapore.^[30]