Government Museum
The 1851 museum complex whose Bronze Gallery holds the finest Chola bronzes outside a temple.
Closed Fridays; start with the Bronze Gallery.
2.5 hrs
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Chennai
Chennai is Madras the port layered over Mylapore the sacred town: Fort St George and its colonial core on one side, the Kapaleeshwarar gopuram and the Pallava shore temples on the other.
Marina
7th c.
Mylapore
Pallava hymns name the Kapaleeshwarar shrine.
1639
Fort St George
The East India Company buys its strip of coast.
1858
Crown rule
The Crown takes Madras over from the Company.
1969
Chennai
Madras state becomes Tamil Nadu; the city later takes its Tamil name.
Fort Museum
The Company's own record: letters, coins and portraits inside India's first English fortress of 1639.
Closed Fridays; bring ID.
60 min
Tamil Nadu Police Museum
Opened in 2021 in the former Commissioner's office used from 1856 to 2013, with police artefacts, weapons and vehicles from the colonial era onward.
Close to the Government Museum.
45 min
DakshinaChitra
A heritage village of traditional houses from across South India, rebuilt with crafts demonstrations and performances.
Closed Tuesdays; combine with Mamallapuram.
2.5 hrs
Dr Arun's Vintage Camera Museum
Opened by orthodontist Dr A.V. Arun, a private museum holding a Guinness record collection of thousands of cameras dating back to the 1870s.
On the East Coast Road near DakshinaChitra; call ahead to confirm hours.
45 min
Vivekananda House
The 1842 Ice House, built to store ice shipped from America, where Swami Vivekananda stayed in 1897; now a museum of his life.
Check opening days before going.
45 min