Things to Do in Chennai

Nicknamed the “Golden City of 1,000 Temples,” Kanchipuram was the capital city of the Pallava Dynasty in Tamil Nadu and boasts numerous intricately carved shrines, most dedicated to Vishnu or Shiva. The city’s buildings also offer an excellent chance to admire examples of Dravidian architecture.

Founded in 1936, the Kalakshetra Foundation is the leading academy of the arts in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, with a focus on the traditional dances and music styles of the region. Rukmini Devi Arundale, the school’s founder, studied dance under Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova. The word “kalakshetra” means “holy place of the arts.”

Situated in Chennai’s Mylapore neighborhood, this temple was constructed in 1952 by a devotee of Shirdi Sai Baba, a 19th-century saint who preached compassion, love, and religious tolerance. It's but one of many temples to the saint across India and the oldest Sai Baba temple in Chennai.

Inaugurated in July of 1892, the Madras High Court is one of only three in courts modern India that were established by royal charter under Queen Victoria. Architecturally, it’s one of the city’s most stunning examples of the Indo-Saracenic aesthetic, displaying Moorish, European, Islamic, and Hindu elements in its red sandstone facade.

Known alternatively as Besant Nagar Beach, or “Bessie” for short, Elliot's Beach sits at the south end of the Marina Beach shore. A former expatriate enclave during Chennai’s colonial era, today the beach attracts throngs of twentysomethings, as well as families looking to avoid the crowds at the more popular Marina Beach.

Built in the Indo-Saracenic architectural style, the Ripon Building serves as the headquarters of the Corporation of Chennai, the oldest municipal body of the Commonwealth outside Great Britain. The highlight of the structure is the 8-foot (2.5-meter) clock, known as the Westminster Chiming Clock, on the building’s central tower.

Valluvar Kottam was constructed in 1976 as a shrine in memory of poet Thiruvalluvar, author of Thirukkural, a collection of more than a thousand rhyming Tamil couplets that expound simplicity of life and set a moral code for his followers. Thiruvalluvar lived and wrote during the first century BC in what is now Chennai.

Occupying 10 acres (4 hectares) in a quiet wooded area outside Chennai, Cholamandal Artists’ Village is the largest self-supporting artists’ village in India. Home to two dozen painters and sculptors, the commune is an excellent place to feel the pulse of Chennai’s contemporary arts scene.

The National Art Gallery, one of six individual museums comprising the Chennai Government Museum, is one of the oldest art galleries in the country. The red sandstone Indo-Sarasenic building was designed by architect Henry Irwin and completed in 1906 as part of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee. The gallery was closed in 2002 when its deteriorating state threatened both visitor safety and the art, but after an extensive renovation in 2013, the gallery re-opened to the public.

The National Art Gallery is subdivided into four smaller galleries: the Tanjore Painting Gallery, Decorative Art Gallery, Indian Traditional Art Gallery and the Ravi Varma Painting Gallery. Besides paintings in various mediums, the gallery also showcases a small collection of sandalwood sculptures.

Auroville was birthed in the late 1960s by Mirra Alfassa, known to her followers as “The Mother,” as a global township in which people from across the world could live in harmony. Today, the UNESCO-recognized project has a population of over 2,000 people from dozens of countries, including many second- and third-generation Aurovillians.

Established in 1855 as the Madras Zoo and launched at its current location south of Chennai in 1985, the Arignar Anna Zoological Park is India’s first public zoo. Home to over 170 species of mammals, birds, reptiles, and insects, the zoological park is also the largest in the country. It runs a rescue center that rehabilitates animals—including lions and tigers—freed from exploitation.

Built for Armenian traders in India in 1712, the Armenian Church, also known as the Church of the Holy Virgin Mary, is among the oldest churches in the country. Though it no longer functions as a house of worship, the church is still maintained as a historical attraction and is funded by the Armenian Apostolic Church.

Situated near Elliot's Beach, the colorful Ashtalakshmi Temple was constructed in the mid-1970s to honor the Hindu goddess of prosperity, Lakshmi. The multitiered structure features images of the goddess in her eight forms, with shrines spread over four floors accessible by steep and narrow staircases.

Locally known as "the Kirk" (Scottish for "the church"), St. Andrew's Church in Chennai was built in 1821 for Scottish Presbyterians in the British Army, and today most of its clergy are from India. It was modeled after St. Martin-in-the-Fields in London and features Palladian architecture, complete with pillars with Corinthian capitals.