Panduranga temple of Chennai

Have you watched old Tamil movies? If yes, regardless of whether it was an MGR film or Shivaji film, you could have noticed that the mother character was played by a very fair and divine looking actress. She was Pandari Bai. She was born in a Marathi speaking family in Karnataka state. She is considered as the first heroine of Kannada film industry. She is one of the prominent character artistes in Tamil film industry.

Before you wonder why I am talking about this actress, let me reveal that this article talks about the temple that was built by this actress. In fact, she converted part of his residence into a temple. The presiding deity of the temple is Panduranga or Vitthal.

In Maharashtra state, Lord Krishna is worshiped as Panduranga or Vitthal. There is a popular temple of Panduranga located in Pandharpur aka Pandaripuram. The idol of Panduranga is unique and looks different from the typical Krishna idols. There are various temples built for Pandaripuram Panduranga by devotees in various parts of India. In Chennai, this is one of the very few Pandurangan temples.

This temple is located in Pillayar Koil street, which is located at a distance of around 0.5 km from the popular Vadapalani Andavar Temple.

Pandurangan temple is also called as Pandurangan Ashram. The main shrine has the beautiful idol of Pandurangan along with Rukmini. Pandurangan idol has its usual charm. Originally, this temple had only Pandurangan idol. However, now the temple also houses Raghavendra Brindavan too.

Hanuman, Garud, Ganesh, Shiv Linga and Navagraha are some of the other idols that are enshrined in this temple.

A very calm and serene temple to visit in the highly crowded Vadapalani area.

Happy travelling.

Fast Facts:
Site Name: Pandurangan Temple
Site Type: Hindu Temple
Location: Vadapalani,Chennai city, Tamil Nadu state, India 
Highlights: Maharashtra Panduranga temple in Chennai; temple built by an actress
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: Chennai is reachable by road, train, and flight; Vadapalani is easily reachable by road from the other parts of the city; Pandurangan temple is located near the famous Vadapalani Murugan temple
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