Sri Venugopala Krishnaswamy Temple

Sri Venugopala Krishnaswamy Temple is an ancient temple situated at Pavalakara Street (Coral Merchant Street) in Muthialpet territory, 1 km north of Broadway bus stand.This sanctuary is unquestionably an uncommon antiquated sanctuary devoted to Lord Krishna inside the Chennai city constrain and is the main old Krishnan sanctuary inside Chennai city. The sanctuary is small. Thirumazhisai Azhwar remained here for a long time and has performed Mangalasasanam.

This 230 years old beautiful temple follows Thennacharya Sampradayam.
The presiding deity, Venugopala (Krishna), is in a standing posture, with legs crossed and has four arms. The upper hands hold the shankha (conch) and chakra (discus) while the lower hands hold the flute (venu).

This image is unusual as Venugopala is usually seen only with two hands playing on the flute, whereas in this temple, he is seen holding the conch and discus as well. Another unusual feature of this deity is that Krishna does not keep the flute close to his lips but holds it with only two fingers of each hand. The fingers do not cover the holes of the flute as Venugopala is not playing on it.

It is as though the deity is ready to play, but not actually blowing on the musical instrument. Flanking the main image are his consorts, Rukmini and Satyabhama. Incidentally goddess Rukmini is also enshrined in a separate sanctum in the temple enclosure. The processional image (utsava-murti) of this temple is a standing Vishnu with four arms, flanked by consorts Sri Devi and Bhu Devi and worshipped as Kannan.

There is a five-storeyed gopuram at the entrance to the temple.The Dwajasthambam of the temple was erected in 1894 and was recently refurbished. There is also a 15 feet high granite Deepa Sthamba.