National Art Gallery

Established in 1851, the Government Museum in Egmore is one of the oldest museums in India (widely cited as the second oldest after the Indian Museum, Kolkata). Set in a complex of striking red Indo-Saracenic buildings, it is celebrated for its Bronze Gallery of Chola-era bronzes, including a famous Nataraja, and for the historic Connemara Public Library.

Opened in 1896 and named after Lord Connemara, this is one of India's four National Depository Libraries, entitled to a copy of every book, newspaper and periodical published in the country. It occupies a magnificent Indo-Saracenic hall within the Egmore museum complex and remains a working public library and treasure house of rare volumes.

A colonial-era railway terminus opened in 1908 for the South Indian Railway, built in Gothic and Indo-Saracenic style with a soaring portico and clock-towered facade. For decades it was the gateway for trains to southern Tamil Nadu. It is a protected heritage structure and one of Chennai's most photographed buildings.

A Church of Scotland kirk consecrated in 1821, built to serve the Scottish community of Madras and modelled on St Martin-in-the-Fields in London. Its circular nave is crowned by a shallow masonry dome painted deep blue and studded with gilt stars, and rests on cast-iron columns. It is considered one of the finest colonial churches in India.

Originally the Banqueting Hall, it was built in 1802 within the Government Estate to commemorate the British victory over Tipu Sultan at Seringapatam. Designed in imposing Neoclassical style with towering Ionic columns, it later hosted state functions and lyings-in-state of Tamil Nadu leaders. It is named after C. Rajagopalachari, independent India's last Governor-General.

The site of Spencer & Co., established in the 1860s, whose grand department store was among the earliest and largest shopping arcades in India before a 1983 fire destroyed the original Indo-Saracenic building. The present mall retains the historic Spencer's name and remains a Mount Road landmark. It is often cited as the first shopping mall in the country.

Established in 1842 from the charitable bequest of the 18th-century merchant Pachaiyappa Mudaliar, it is one of the oldest educational institutions in the city. Its main hall on Poonamallee High Road is a striking replica of the Temple of Theseus in Athens, with a Greek-columned portico. It played a major role in the intellectual life of colonial Madras.

A gleaming white Neoclassical colonial building completed in 1913 and designed by G.T.S. Harris, serving as the headquarters of the Greater Chennai Corporation. It is named after Lord Ripon, the Viceroy regarded as the father of local self-government, and is famed for its Westminster-chime clock tower.

Built in 1810 by the Arcot Nawab Umdat ul-Umara, this multi-domed Shia mosque takes its name from an old tradition of lighting a thousand oil lamps to illuminate the assembly hall that once stood here. It is regarded as one of the largest mosques in the country and a major centre of azadari for Chennai's Shia community.

Chennai's Victorian-era Town Hall, a red-brick Indo-Saracenic landmark near Central station in Park Town, designed by Robert Chisholm and built between 1883 and 1889. Restored under the Singara Chennai initiative, it now serves as a heritage museum and cultural performance venue.

Amir Mahal in Royapettah is the official residence of the Prince of Arcot, titular descendant of the Nawabs of the Carnatic. This Indo-Saracenic palace, adapted into a royal residence by Robert Chisholm in 1876, remains a working home with only limited public access.

A roughly 20-acre botanical garden opened in 2010 by the Tamil Nadu Horticulture Department in the heart of the city. It features themed sections, a glasshouse, and a wide variety of ornamental, medicinal, and exotic plants.