Chenna Malleeswarar Temple

A Shiva temple built alongside the Chennakesava Perumal Temple by Manali Muthukrishna Mudaliar in 1762, the two are known together as the 'Twin Temples' or Pattinam Temples of Chennai and share an interlinking passage. It replaced an earlier shrine razed by the East India Company. The paired Vishnu-Shiva complex is one of the oldest surviving temple foundations of colonial Madras.

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Chenna Malleeswarar Temple
Place
Practical guide

Plan Chenna Malleeswarar Temple

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Before you go to Chenna Malleeswarar Temple

Entry rules not verified for this temple. Some Hindu temples admit only Hindus, and most enforce a dress code at the door. We have not verified the rule for this particular temple, so please check before you travel — especially if you are not Hindu or are visiting from outside India.

We report each site's own published rules neutrally, and only where we can source them.

Typetemple
Nearest basePark Town
DistrictChennai
Best timeOctober to March is the cooler, drier…
Time neededAbout an hour
EntryFree
Places to visit2Listed businesses1

Chenna Malleeswarar Temple is planned from Park Town, one of the travel bases in Chennai district. Use Park Town for stays, food and local transport, then plan this place as a focused stop.

What to expect

Highlights

Getting there

How to visit

  • Base yourself in Park Town or nearby in Chennai, then confirm the last-mile route locally before travel.
  • If access depends on temple, museum or seasonal rules, check on the day before you go.

Distance by road

  • Mahabalipuram (Mamallapuram)55 km
  • Kanchipuram72 km
  • Puducherry150 km
  • Vellore135 km
  • Tirupati135 km

Road km to Chennai; ghat roads and traffic vary — allow extra.

Timing

Best time

October to March is the cooler, drier season in the Cauvery delta.

Weather in Chenna Malleeswarar TempleSeasonal guide

Live forecast loads in your browser.

Today at Chenna Malleeswarar Temple
Sunrise5:58 am
Sunset6:21 pm
Golden hour best light5:21 pm–6:21 pm
Blue hour after sunset6:21 pm–6:46 pm
Sun sets toward compass bearingW · 279°
Moon tonight🌖 Waning gibbous · 83%
South-west monsoon. June to September is the south-west monsoon in Tamil Nadu. Expect heavy showers, mostly in bursts rather than all day — carry rain cover, allow extra time for getting around, and note that ferries and open-air sites are the first things affected.

Sun and moon are calculated for this location and shown in IST. Photography windows are the hour around sunrise and sunset; the sunset bearing is degrees clockwise from true north. Moon phase is accurate to about half a day.

Stay · eat · do · rent · see · shop

Stays, food & things to do near Chenna Malleeswarar Temple

Verified hotels, homestays, restaurants, experiences, sights, shops and rentals around Chenna Malleeswarar Temple — commission-free, with direct contact. Filter by what you need.

M
MATHI RESIDENCY
Place to stay
Top pick
Motel
MATHI RESIDENCY
1.1 km · 13 min walk

Motel at 8, Kumarappa Chetty Street. Its own record says it keeps no closing hour.

Directions Commission-freeView details

Book with the place itself. India’s cyber-crime coordination centre warned in April 2025 that convincing copies of hotel and pilgrimage booking sites are being pushed through sponsored search and social ads, taking payment for rooms the property never hears about. Every listing here links to the business’s own contact details and its own Google or Bing profile — we take no commission and sit in nobody’s payment path. If a booking page reached you through an ad, check the address bar against the property’s own site before you pay. Fraud can be reported on cybercrime.gov.in or on 1930.

Ranked

The best of Park Town, ranked

Chenna Malleeswarar Temple sits in Park Town, and these rank everything verified across the town rather than this one spot — built from the same listings shown above, ordered by the strength of the source evidence behind each entry rather than by anyone's star score. Every card shows how many places are really on it. Nobody pays to appear.

Across the whole of Park Town

Ranked guides

Top experiences around Park Town

One more place around Park Town worth a day of its own.

templeChennakesava Perumal Temple

10 m · 1 min walk

This Vishnu temple honours Chenna Kesava Perumal, regarded as the patron deity of Chennai, and the city's name 'Chennapattanam' is widely believed to derive from it. The original was built by Beri Thimappa, the dubash who brokered the 1639 land deal that created Madras. After the East India Company demolished the first structure in 1757, the present temple was rebuilt in 1762 by Manali Muthukrishna Mudaliar.

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Before you go

Chenna Malleeswarar Temple — at a glance

Timings6:00 AM - 12:00 PM, 4:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Best timeYear-round (early morning or evening)

Entry: Free

Getting here

How to reach Chenna Malleeswarar Temple

In Park Town beside the Chennakesava Perumal temple; walkable from Chennai Central and Park Town station.

Getting around Chenna Malleeswarar Temple

We have not assessed physical access at this place yet. Across India, step-free routes, handrails and accessible toilets are the exception rather than the rule, and pavements are often interrupted — if step-free access matters to you, contact the site or a local operator before committing to the trip.

If you need help at Chenna Malleeswarar Temple
112All emergencies (police · fire · medical)The single number to call in any emergency (ERSS).

Emergency numbers are verified against official government and state tourism sources. 112 works anywhere in India.

Nearby

What’s near Chenna Malleeswarar Temple

templeChennakesava Perumal Temple 10 m · 1 min walk · straight line
heritageSowcarpet 410 m · 5 min walk · straight line
templeKandaswamy Temple 620 m · 8 min walk · straight line
templeEkambareswarar Temple 700 m · 9 min walk · straight line
churchArmenian Church, Chennai 1.0 km · 12 min walk · straight line
heritageVictoria Public Hall 1.0 km · 13 min walk · straight line
heritageRipon Building 1.1 km · 14 min walk · straight line
heritageGeneral Post Office 1.1 km · 14 min walk · straight line
heritageSouthern Railway Headquarters 1.1 km · 14 min walk · straight line
heritageMadras High Court 1.1 km · 14 min walk · straight line
parkIsland Grounds 1.2 km · 15 min walk · straight line
templeKalikambal Temple 1.2 km · 16 min walk · straight line

All 2 places to visit in Park Town →

On the map

Where Chenna Malleeswarar Temple is

Good to know

Chenna Malleeswarar Temple — frequently asked

When is the best time to visit Chenna Malleeswarar Temple?

October to March is the cooler, drier season in the Cauvery delta.

What are the entry fee and timings at Chenna Malleeswarar Temple?

Entry: Free. Timings: 6:00 AM - 12:00 PM, 4:00 PM - 8:30 PM.

How do I reach Chenna Malleeswarar Temple?

Base yourself in Park Town or nearby in Chennai, then confirm the last-mile route locally before travel. If access depends on temple, museum or seasonal rules, check on the day before you go.

How much time do I need for Chenna Malleeswarar Temple?

About an hour.

What else is near Chenna Malleeswarar Temple?

Nearby you can pair Chennakesava Perumal Temple (10 m), Sowcarpet (410 m), Kandaswamy Temple (620 m), Ekambareswarar Temple (700 m).