CHENNAI: The city has numerous shrines for Krishna, both old and new. One such temple is in Vanniya Teynampet, near Alwarpet where the deity is worshipped as Krishnaswami Perumal. This tiny temple enshrines a black granite image of Venugopala with four-arms instead of the usual two. He holds the Sankha and Chakra in the upper hands while the lower hands caress the flute.
According to the ancient texts, in such images of Venugopala, the rapture of music must be visible on his face, and this is clearly seen here. As with such forms of Krishna, here too there is a cow, of black granite, at his feet.
The processional image is Vishnu as Srinivasa Perumal. The icons of the consorts, Sridevi and Bhudevi, which should have been on either side of this deity are kept flanking the main stone image of Venugopala because of space constraints.
Andal, Sudarsana (the powerful discus weapon of Vishnu) and Navaneeta Krishna are also worshipped here. This temple, now much modernised, is believed to be 600 years old. If so, it must belong to the glorious Vijayanagara dynasty, many of whose monarchs like Krishnadeva Raya were devotees of Krishna.
A few yards from the Krishnaswami temple is another small shrine for Amrita Sanjeevi Anjaneya. Seen here is a large image of Hanuman of black granite, holding aloft the Sanjeevi hill with his left hand and with his right hand in the gesture of blessing. A mace (gada) rests near his thigh on the right side. The processional image is Bhakta Anjaneya with his palms pressed together in devotion and with a halo (prabha) around his head. The processional images of Rama, Lakshmana, Sita and Hanuman are in worship here.