Highlights
- 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.
- 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.



