Kolavizhi Amman Temple - Chennai

Kolavizhi Amman temple (also called as Bhadra Kali temple) which  is located near the Sanskrit college in Mylapore locality is one of the most important temples of Mother Goddess in Chennai.

This temple is originally a village temple. The sanctum enshrines two Goddesses; the gigantic Bhadra Kali and Kolavizhi. Kali has eight arms and is in the sitting posture.

Kolavizhi Amman is considered as the guardian deity of Mylapore village. She is even referred as Mayurapuri Grama Devta.


The temple has only limited number of shrines; however it is spread across a vast area. Probably, many sub-shrines might be built in the future. This is the typical way of village temples getting expanded and imitate the main stream temples.

The sub-shrines of Naga devtas, Hanuman and Ganesh are also found in the temple. Seven bricks representing Sapta Matas as well as a new sub-shrine for Sapta Matas are also found. It should be noted that Indrani is replaced with Nagendri among the Sapta Matas. In few other temples in Chennai, I have noticed similar depiction of Sapta Matas.

In ardha mandap, Ganesh and Murugan idols are located.

Four big relief images are new addition to the temple. They look attractive and noticeable. They are Ganesh, Murugan, Karuppanna Swami and Valmiki. This is one of the few temples of Chennai where Valmiki Rishi is found.  

The lid of well is locked with hundreds of locks offered by the devotees. They believe that the Goddess would relieve them from the legal issues if they offer locks to her.

The temple is definitely old (not the current structure), but it is not known how old it is. The claims that the temple is 1000 years or 600 years old are baseless. The utsav deity of Kali that is found in the temple is ancient though.

Happy travelling.


Fast Facts:
Site Name: Kolavizhi Amman Temple
Site Type: Hindu Temple
Location:  Mylapore, Chennai city, Tamil Nadu state, India 
Highlights: A famous temple for mother Goddess in Chennai

Nearest Railway Station: Chennai - well connected from the cities/towns all over India

Nearest Airport: Chennai has both national and international airports
How to reach: Easily reachable by road from any part of the city; local train facility is also available in Mylapore
Hotel: Many star hotels, luxury hotels/resorts, and budget hotels are available in Chennai
Restaurants: All options - vegetarian, non-vegetarian, Chinese, South Indian, Gujarati, North Indian, Punjabi,....- you can find everything in Chennai city

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