Exploring the Twin Temples of Chinna Tari Pettah

Welcome to the fascinating history of the Chinna Tari Pettah township! (It has become Chintadaripet now). This area was founded in 1735 by Governor George Morton Pitt on the former garden of Sunku Rama Chetty, an influential Dubashi who had fallen into disgrace. To encourage the settlement of weavers and painters in this newly established village, Bemala Audiappa Narayana, another Dubashi, helped to build two temples with the support of the British administration. 

(The garden on the banks of the Cooum river was earlier allotted to Sunku Rama by Governor Collett. Interestingly another settlement in the North Madras called Kaladipettah was named after Collet.)

These twin temples share a common wall and are dedicated to Shiva and Vishnu, much like the famous twin temples in Old Madras. While they don't have gopurams, the temples boast intricately decorated mandapas at the entrance, featuring colonial-era iconography on the pillars. They also share a tank and chariot, and the cost of constructing the temples was a whopping 18,000 pagodas.

Adi Pureeswara temple, the first of the twin temples, is a crowded complex with many sub-shrines and icons. It houses the presiding deity Adi Pureeswara in the form of a large Shiva Linga, along with Tripurasundari in a south-facing shrine. 

Other deities found in the temple include Ganesha, Dakshinamurti, Vishnu, Brahma, and Durga, as Koshta murtis.

In fact, the Adi Pureeswara temple is so full of various gods and goddesses that you can find virtually any deity you can think of here. The temple is home to various Murtis such as Navagrahas, Vallalar, 63 Nayanmars, Cheraman Perumal, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Bhairava, Surya, Chandra, Chandikeswara, Nalvar, Chandikeswara, Ganesha, Subramanya with Valli and Devasena, Nandi, Dharma Shasta and more.

The adjacent temple, accessed through an interior entrance, is dedicated to Adi Keshava, flanked by Sri Devi and Bhoo Devi as the presiding deities. Adi Lakshmi and Andal have prominent shrines in the prakara, while Hanuman, Nammalvar, Chakrathalwar, Ramanuja, Alwars, and Garuda are also found in the temple.

Both temples have smaller mandapas and feature sculptures of Dubashis on the outer prakara's pillars. The Shiva temple also boasts two inscriptions from 1782 and 1874 detailing the construction of two mandapas. The front mandapa outside the temple complex of Shiva has an inscription dated 1929. The Vishnu temple has an inscription dated 1847.

A small Ganesha temple facing the Shiva temple, is named Adi Ganesha. It was originally part of the main temple, now became an independent one.

Overall, these twin temples are a must-visit for anyone interested in the rich history of Chennai. 

Happy travelling.