page_title: Architecture of Tamil Nadu
section_title: National Art Gallery
hierarchical_section_title: Architecture of Tamil Nadu / Colonial / Notable buildings in Chennai / National Art Gallery
caption_attribution_description: English: View of the Valluvar Kottam from the terrace of the exhibition hall
context_page_description: Nearly 33,000 ancient temples, many at least 800 to 2000 years old, are found scattered all over Tamil Nadu. As per Tamil Nadu Hindu Endowments Board, there are 38615 Temples. Most of the largest Hindu Temples reside here. Studded with complex architecture, variety of sculptures, and rich inscriptions, the temples remain the very essence of the culture and heritage of Tamil land, with historical records dating back to at least 3,000 years.
  The state also abounds with a large number of temple tanks. The state has 2,359 temple tanks located in 1,586 temples. and also confluence of many architectural styles. From ancient temples to the Indo-Saracenic style of the colonial era, churches, mosques to 20th-century steel and chrome of skyscrapers.
context_section_description: The Victoria Memorial Hall built in 1906 by Henry Irwin is another example of Indo-Saracenic architecture.  It was initially the location of the Victoria Technical Institute, later renamed as the National Art Gallery in 1951. It had about 175 collections of paintings from Rajasthan, Deccan, Tanjore, and Raja Ravi Varma, besides many bronze, wood, and ivory items from the British era. However, the art gallery is closed since 2002 as it is being renovated.
caption: Valluvar Kottam from the terrace of the exhibition hall
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "SONY", "Image Model": "DSC-W5", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS3 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2008:02:06 23:37:09", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image CustomRendered": "Normal", "Image ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "Image WhiteBalance": "Manual", "Image SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "Image Contrast": "Normal", "Image Saturation": "Hard", "Image Sharpness": "Normal", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 51, 48, 48, 0, 0, 2, 0, 2, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0]", "Image ExifOffset": "380", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "822", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4645", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/320", "EXIF FNumber": "28/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2007:12:08 16:30:35", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2007:12:08 16:30:35", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Cloudy weather", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "79/10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1333", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2000", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed"}