What to expect
Chennakesava Perumal Temple
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.
Practical guide
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Before you go to Chennakesava Perumal 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 visit2→Listed businesses1→Chennakesava Perumal 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.
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 Chennakesava Perumal TempleSeasonal guide
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Today at Chennakesava Perumal 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 Chennakesava Perumal Temple
Verified hotels, homestays, restaurants, experiences, sights, shops and rentals around Chennakesava Perumal Temple — commission-free, with direct contact. Filter by what you need.
1 place to stay near Chennakesava Perumal Temple
M
MATHI RESIDENCY
Place to stay
Top pick
Motel
MATHI RESIDENCYMotel at 8, Kumarappa Chetty Street. Its own record says it keeps no closing hour.
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
Chennakesava Perumal 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.
templeChenna Malleeswarar Temple
10 m · 1 min walk
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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Chennakesava Perumal 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 Chennakesava Perumal Temple
In Park Town, a short walk from Chennai Central and the Park suburban station; George Town buses stop nearby.
Getting around Chennakesava Perumal 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 Chennakesava Perumal Temple
112All emergencies (police · fire · medical)The single number to call in any emergency (ERSS).100Police101Fire108Ambulance (emergency / EMS)1091Women’s helpline (distress)1098Child helpline1363Tourist helpline (India, 24×7, multilingual)
Emergency numbers are verified against official government and state tourism sources. 112 works anywhere in India.
Nearby
What’s near Chennakesava Perumal Temple
On the map
Where Chennakesava Perumal Temple is
Good to know
Chennakesava Perumal Temple — frequently asked
When is the best time to visit Chennakesava Perumal Temple?
October to March is the cooler, drier season in the Cauvery delta.
What are the entry fee and timings at Chennakesava Perumal Temple?
Entry: Free. Timings: 6:00 AM - 12:00 PM, 4:00 PM - 8:30 PM.
How do I reach Chennakesava Perumal 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 Chennakesava Perumal Temple?
About an hour.
What else is near Chennakesava Perumal Temple?
Nearby you can pair Chenna Malleeswarar Temple (10 m), Sowcarpet (410 m), Kandaswamy Temple (620 m), Ekambareswarar Temple (700 m).
Read before you go
Chennakesava Perumal Temple guides, stories & itineraries
We have not published a story about Chennakesava Perumal Temple itself yet. These cover Park Town, the town it sits in, and the wider district.
Tamil Nadu-wide guides & itineraries
Route-level itineraries and practical guides for the rest of Tamil Nadu.
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Chennai in 2 Days: A Practical Itinerary
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Day Trips from Chennai: 8 Best Places to Visit in a Day
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Story
Kapaleeswarar Temple and the soul of Mylapore
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Image credits
- Chennakesava Perumal Temple:Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons · Public domain