Gnanasundara Vinayak Temple - Mylapore, Chennai

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Mylapore, best known for the Kapaleeswarar Temple, has many small shrines that quietly hold their own place in the locality’s sacred landscape. One such shrine is the Gnanasundara Vinayakar Temple, a compact Ganesha temple located at the junction of Ramakrishna Mutt Road and St. Mary’s Road. The temple is believed to be around 400 years old.

A local tradition explains how this temple came to be. It is said that a stone icon lay unnoticed among other stones near a dargah along RK Mutt Road. When the Arcot Nawab was passing through the area, his horse was tied to that stone and soon fell ill. Once the horse was untied, it recovered. This incident led people to believe that the stone was not an ordinary one, but a Ganesha icon. In time, a shrine was established and the temple took shape around it.

Though small, the temple includes a few additional deities. Along with Gnanasundara Vinayakar, you can see Annamalai in the form of a Shiva Linga, Unnamulai, Murugan with Valli and Devasena, Durga, Nagathamma, Shaneeswarar, and the Navagrahas.

Happy travelling.


Location: Mylapore, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

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