This capital city of Tamil Nadu, Chennai, has several important temples. The ancient ones among them are the Kapaleeswarar Temple at Mylapore and Parthasarathi temple at Thiruvallikeni.

Kapaleeswarar Temple: According to a legend, Lord Shiva once pinched off one of the heads of Brahma to arrest his pride. A crestfallen Brahma came to this place, installed a Siva Lingam and did penance. The Lingam is known as Kapaleeswarar. His consort is Karpagavalli. Devi Parvati did penance here as a peahen and hence the place is known as Mylapore.

Shaivite saint Gyanasambandhar sang in praise of Lord Shiva in this temple, too, to revive a dead girl.

During the Arupathumoovar festival in March in honour of the 63 Nayanmars their images are taken out in a spectacular procession.

Parthasarathi Temple: The shrine is dedicated to Lord Krishna as Parthasarathi, the divine charioteer. According to a legend, Saptha Rishis have worshipped the five deities in this temple, known as Pancha Veeras. They are Venkata Krishnaswamy with Rukmini, Satyaki, Balarama, Pradyumna and Aniruddha.

The processional deity of Parthasarathi, with arrow marks on the face caused by Bhishma in the battle of Kurukshetra, is a captivating image. The changing colour of the face of the deity is a rare phenomenon.

Other shrines in the city include Vadapazhani Andavar (Murugan) temple; Siva-Vishnu temple at T. Nagar; Ashta Lakshmi temple at Adyar; Rajarajeshwari and Hanuman temples at Nanganallur; Paalvanna Nathar (Shiva) temple at Thiruvanmiyur; Kandaswamy (Murugan) temple near Central; Ekambareswarar Temple in north Chennai.