Koyambedu Market

Officially the Dr. Visvesvaraya Tower Park, this urban park is built around a 42-metre (135 ft) concrete watchtower erected in 1968 and inaugurated during a World Trade Fair. Visitors climb the tower for panoramic views over Anna Nagar. The landscaped grounds include an amphitheatre, an artificial lake and children's play areas.

The Sri Vadapalani Andavar temple is one of Chennai's busiest and most beloved Murugan (Subramanya) shrines, developed into its present form around the turn of the 20th century by devotee Annaswamy Nayakar. Because its presiding idol echoes the famous Palani temple to the south, it is known as Vadapalani, the 'northern Palani'. It is also among the city's most sought-after wedding venues.

The Regional Rail Museum at the Integral Coach Factory in north Chennai, opened in 2002, showcases India's rail heritage through vintage locomotives and coaches. A popular toy train ride around the grounds makes it a favourite family outing.

A narrow, intensely crowded shopping street in T. Nagar often described as one of the busiest retail streets in India, especially during Deepavali and wedding season. It is packed with silk-sari showrooms, jewellery stores and bargain vendors. The crush of shoppers is itself a Chennai spectacle.

A large triangular park at the heart of T. Nagar's shopping district, named after the Raja of Panagal, Chief Minister of the Madras Presidency in the 1920s. It provides a rare green breathing space amid the crowded silk-and-jewellery shopping streets. It is a well-known local landmark and meeting point.

A famous shopping street in T. Nagar named after S. Muthiah Mudaliar ('Soundarapandian Bazaar'), lined with clothing, footwear and street-food stalls. A recently built pedestrian plaza with fountains and seating has made it a popular evening promenade. It is one of the busiest retail streets in the city.

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 monument built in the mid-1970s (inaugurated 1976) honouring the ancient Tamil poet-philosopher Thiruvalluvar and his classic work, the Thirukkural. Shaped like a temple chariot with a tall tower, it houses a large statue of Thiruvalluvar and has all 1330 Kural couplets inscribed on its granite corridors.

A Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery at Nandambakkam holding around 856 Second World War burials, gathered from across south and east India. Immaculately maintained, it is a quiet, dignified and moving heritage site.

A Church of South India cathedral built between 1815 and 1816 on Cathedral Road, designed by Colonel James Caldwell and Thomas Fiott de Havilland in a graceful Neoclassical style with a tall steeple. Its spire was among the tallest structures in early 19th-century Madras. The churchyard holds colonial-era tombs and memorials.

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.

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.