The Adipurishwarar temple, dedicated to Siva, in Chintadripet, is a twin-temple with the adjacent Adikesava Perumal temple. Governor George Morton Pitt founded Chintadripet in 1734 as a weaver’s settlement (Chennai-tari-pettai). Adiappa Narayana Chetty, a Dubash of the East India Company, sponsored the construction of the Siva and Vishnu temples and the Adi Vinayaka temple nearby.
The Adipurishwarar temple has a stone mandapa with pillars of the Vijayanagara type in front of the gopuram which is seen only up to the doorway portion. To the right of the entrance is the kalyana mandapam constructed about 250 years ago by Ratnavel Chettiyar, a devotee.
The Siva Linga and Linga Pitham (Avudaiyar) enshrined in the principal sanctum are large. Numerous other deities are in worship including goddess Parvati, enshrined as Tripurasundari, Bhairava, Prakara Ganapati, Nayanmars like Cheraman Perumal, Sarasvati, Subramanya, Dharma Sasta with his consorts, Purna and Pushkala, and Navagraha. There are two Tamil inscriptions, dated 1782 and 1874, etched on pillars, which record the construction of mandapas in this temple.
The most important among the numerous festivals is the annual Brahmotsavam which is in the Tamil month of Chittirai (April-May) with the sacred wedding Thirukalyanam held on the tenth day. This is a fifteen-day Brahmotsavam and not a ten-day one as is normally celebrated in most temples.
The huge Adikaranandi vahanam (mount) on which the processional image is carried on the night of the third day is special as it is the biggest in Asia. It is interesting to know that two days before the Brahmotsavam begins, Muruga from the Kandakottam temple in George Town comes to the Adipurishwarara temple at 2 pm and stays here till 7.30 pm.