Trplicane Partahsarathy temple (8th ,century), Chennai, Tamil Nadu

Sri Parthasarathy temple, Tiruvallikkeni,Chennai, chennaiwala.wordpress.com 

Triplicane Parthasarathy Temple, Chennai,flickr.com

This 8th-century Hindu  Vaishnavite temple  in Thiruvallikeni (Triplicane) of Chennai City, TN  is popular is being visited by lots of Devotees daily. and lots of people visit this temple dail. It is one of a  few temples  dedicated to God Sri Krishna as Parthasarathy ( the 'charioteer of Pandava brother Arjuna  in the epic Mahabharata). The temple is  glorified in the Divya Prabandham, the early medieval Tamil Vaishnava Canon of the Azhwar saints of  6th–9th centuries CE. it is  an important shrine among the 108 Divya Desams. The fascinating feature of the main stone idol of Parthasarathy (Moolavar) in the sanctum is his big idol with an impressive mustache. 

Originally built by the Pallavas in the 8th century there are  five shrines -– sannadis  in this temple built in different periods. The sanctum enshrines Venkatakrishnan with Rukmini, Balaraman, Satyaki, Anirudha, Pradyumna - seated and facing east. The Utsavar (idol meant for procession) here is that of Parthasarathy. Scars from the arrows of Bheeshma`s  bow on Sri Krishna can be seen on the idol.  Sri Krishna purposely donned the role of a charioteer and rode Arjuna's chariot in the Kurukshetra  war to save him from the impending death. It implies God guidance  always be with those people who follow the path of Dharma or righteousness.

There is a shrine dedicated to Ranganathar who  has  a reclining pose - Aanada sayanam; his consort Vedavalli has a separate sanctum. There are sannadis  for Rama flanked by Sita, Lakshmana, Bharata, Shatrugna and Hanuman facing east; Varadarajan seated on a Garuda facing east, and Narasimha seated and facing west. There is a  separate shrine for Andal, daughter of Periyazhwar.

Parthasarathy Temple Chennai,T.N..journey. mart.com

There are inscriptions in Tamil and Telugu dating back to  8th century - Pallava  period. The Cholas expanded the temple to a large extent  and in the 15th century Vijayanagara rulers made  considerable contributions and gave endowments. The temple seems to have been restored during 1564 CE with additional shrines. 

The temple  saw a major expansion during the reign of the Vijayanagar kings like Sadasiva Raya, Sriranga Raya and Venkatapati Raya II (16th century). Many sub shrines and pillared pavilions (mandapas) like the Tiruvaimozhi Mandapa were added. The temple has two prakarams (narrow corridor around the temple) and a five-tiered rajagopuram (tower). The golden images of Tirumal and  Nachiyar, adorn the chest of Venkatakrishnan. It is believed that Sri Venkateswara of Tirupati manifested himself as Parthasarathy here, and hence the name Venkata Krishnan.

Yoga Narashimhar Sannidhi:

There is an important  shrine here dedicated to ''Yoga Narashimher.'' Devotees should not miss this  popular shrine. A significant aspect of this shrine is people with all sorts of problems - physical, mental, marital, monetary, etc come here and pray with full faith and devotion. They offer salt and pepper as offerings here. I have heard reliable people tell me that their prayer never goes  unanswered and  sooner they get a favorable  result on account of Sri Yoga Narashihar's blessings and unique divine power.  To achieve success, the most essential things  are dedication and faith in God.

Festivals: The annual Bhrammotsavam is celebrated in the month of Chittirai (April-May). Vaikuntha Ekadasi celebrated in Margazhi (December-January). Visiting this temple is  as good  as going on a pilgrimage to  Tirupati or Uppiliappan temple near Kumbakonam. Saturdays of Purattasi (September - October) month are considered sacred.

 A visit to Chennai on pilgrimage will not be complete if you do not make a trip to this tradition-bound temple of great antiquity steeped in Thenkalai Vaishnava Sampradaya.

Ref:
Ayyar, P. V. Jagadisa (1991). South Indian shrines: illustrated. New Delhi: Asian Educational Services. ISBN 81-206-0151-3.

M.S., Ramesh (1993). 108 Vaishnavite Divya Desam Volume 1. Tirupati: Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthasarathy_Temple,_Triplicane