PARTHASARATHY TEMPLE

The Parthasarathy Temple is an 8th-century Hindu Vaishnavite temple dedicated to the godKrishna, located at Triplicane, Chennai, India. The temple is glorified in the Divya Prabandha, the early medieval Tamil literaturecanon of the Alvar saints from the 6th–9th centuries CE and is classified as among the 108 Divya Desams dedicated to Vishnu.The name 'Parthasarathy', in Sanskrit, means the 'charioteer of Arjuna', referring to Krishna's role as a charioteer to Arjuna in the epicMahabaratha.

It was originally built by the Pallavas in the 8th century by king Narasimhavarman I. The temple has five of the incarnation’s oravatars of Vishnu: Narasimhar, Ramar, Varadaraja, Ranganathar and Krishna.

The temple is one of the oldest structures in Chennai.There are shrines for VedavalliThayar, Ranganatha, Rama, Gajendra Varadharaja Swamy, Narasimha, Andal, Anjaneya, Alvars, Ramanuja, Swami Manavala Mamunigal and Vedanthachariar. The temple subscribes to Vaikhanasa agama and follows Thenkalai tradition. There are separate entrances for the Krishna and Narasimha temples. The gopuram towers and mandapas pillars are decorated with elaborate carvings, a standard feature ofSouth Indian Temple Architecture.