Villivakkam is a neighbourhood of

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It is served by the

Villivakkam railway station Villivakkam railway station is a railway station on the Chennai Central–Arakkonam section of the Chennai Suburban Railway Network a city of Chennai in India. Located 9 km from Chennai Central, Chennai Central railway station, the station ...

on the Chennai Central–Arakkonam suburban section. Villivakkam is the largest state assembly constituency in

in terms of number of voters.

Etymology

The real name of Villivakkam is Vilvaaranyam. An old

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

temple here is built by Sage Agasthiyar and there are many vilvam (bael) trees here, hence it earned the name Vilva Aaranyam, which means the "jungle of bael trees". As time passed, the name changed into Villivakkam.

Transport

Road

Villivakkam has a bus terminus which is located off Konnur High Road.

Jawaharlal Nehru Road Chowringhee Road (also spelt ''Chourangi Road''), located in the Chowringhee neighbourhood of Kolkata, is the arterial road running from the eastern fringes of Esplanade southwards up to the crossing with Lower Circular Road (AJC Bose Ro ...

and Konnur High Road are the arterial roads encompassing Villivakkam. The construction of the long pending Villivakkam Subway was started on 4 December 2007 and was inaugurated on 19 June 2012. The 447.50-m-long subway built at a cost of 390 million, would also have a bicycle lane of 2.5 m width.

Rail

Chennai suburban railway The Chennai Suburban Railway is a commuter rail system in the city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, operated by the Southern Railways branch of Indian Railways. It is India's second largest suburban rail network in terms of route length and the ...

station at Villivakkam is between the segment of

Chennai Central Chennai Central (officially Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M.G. Ramachandran Central Railway Station, formerly Madras Central) (station code: MAS), is an NSG–1 category Indian railway station in Chennai railway division of Southern Railway zone ...

and

Arakkonam Arakkonam () is a railway town in the Ranipet district, state of Tamil Nadu. Included within the Chennai metropolitan area, Chennai Metropolitan Area since 2022, Arakkonam is a major suburb of the state capital city Chennai, with a population ...

Junction, and 10 km from Central, there are suburban services to

Chennai Beach Chennai Beach (formerly known as Madras Beach) (station code: MSB) is a railway terminus of the Southern Railway network in Parry's Corner, Chennai, India. Built on reclaimed land, the station serves the suburban services of the Chennai Subu ...

Velachery Velachery is a neighborhood of Chennai. It is located in the southern part of the Chennai city sharing borders with Guindy in the north, Taramani in the east, Perungudi in the south-east, Pallikaranai wetland, Pallikaranai in the south, Madipa ...

Ambattur Ambattur is a northwestern part of Chennai, India. It is located in Ambattur taluk of the Chennai District, surrounded by Avadi, Anna Nagar, Korattur, Padi, Mogappair, Kallikuppam, Surapet, Ayappakkam, Athipet and Thiruverkadu. It c ...

Avadi Avadi () is a city Located within the Chennai metropolitan area, Its the headquarters of Avadi Police, Avadi City Police, Avadi City Municipal Corporation, Avadi City Corporation and Avadi taluk, Avadi Taluk located within the Thiruvallur dist ...

Pattabiram Pattabiram is a neighbourhood situated on the western part of Chennai, India. The suburb, which falls under Avadi Municipal Corporation, is about 25 km from the Chennai Central railway station. It is an immediate neighbour of Chennai cit ...

Tiruvallur Tiruvallur is a Grade I municipality in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of Coovum river about from downtown Chennai ( Madras) in the western part of the Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA). It is a satellite tow ...

and

Ponneri Ponneri is a town located in Chennai Metropolitan Area, Thiruvallur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located in Ponneri taluk. Ponneri is major destination for Andhra Pradesh people to buy goods. It is a part of the area ...

. The link from Chennai to

junction is the oldest railway line in South India.

Politics

Villivakkam is the largest state assembly constituency in

in terms of number of voters. The Villivakkam constituency covers an area from Annanagar in south to Madavaram in north and from

Ayanavaram Ayanpuram or Ayanavaram is a neighbourhood in Chennai, India. Konnur High Road (Ayanavaram road), one of the important connecting roads in Chennai runs through Ayanavaram. Etymology The neighbourhood was originally known as Ayanpuram, with Ayan ...

in east to

Korattur Korattur is a neighbourhood situated in the western part of Chennai. It is a part of the Ambattur Zone of Chennai Corporation and located along the Chennai-Bangalore/Mumbai railroad about 12 km from the Chennai Central. It is developed with ...

in west.

Education

Schools

* St. John's Matriculation Higher Secondary School * Shri Krishnaswamy Matriculation Higher Secondary School * Padma Sarangapani Matriculation School * Padma Sarangapani Junior School * Our Lady of Velankanni Matriculation Higher Secondary School * Singaram Pillai Girls' Higher Secondary School * Singaram pillay higher secondary school * Government Girls Higher secondary School * Kanakadurga Telugu Higher Secondary School * John Williams Matriculation School * Almonds Play School * Kids International Playschool & Preschool * KRM Public School * Bharatha Vidhyalaya Matric School

Entertainment

Cinema Theaters

* AGS Cinemas * Nathamuni Cinemas * Ganga Cinemas

Health Care

* Cauvery Trust Hospital * Faith Multispeciality Hospital * Niranjana Hospital and Well Women Centre * Life care DKJ Hospital * WCF Hospital * RK Hospital * M.R.H 24 Hours Medical Health Care * Sree Krishna ENT Care *Swamy Eye Clinic *Vigneshwara Eye Clinic *PK Dental Care *A.S.K. Dental Clinic

Religious Places

Temples: * Sri Sowmia Damodara Perumal Devasthanam * Sri Anjaneyar Swamy Temple * Arulmigu Sri Agatheeswarar Temple * Arulmigu Sri Ayyappa Temple * Shirdi Sai Baba Temple * Sri Devi Angalaparameshwari Amman Temple * Kalyana Subramania Swamy Temple * Karumari Amman Temple * Varasakthi Vinayagar Temple (Rajaji Nagar 4th street) * Elangaliamman Temple * Shri Kamatchi Amman Temple * Sri Baliamman Temple Mosques: * Masjid-E Rahmaniah * Masjid-e-Noor * Anjuman E Mohammedi Masjid * Masjid-e-Maqthab Nooriyah Churches: * Peniel Evangelical Church * Blessing Centre AG Church * Velankanni Madha Church * E.C.I. Villivakkam Church * Chennai Telugu Baptist Church * St Stephens Church * Philadelphia Fellowship Church * Evangelical Church Of India E.C.I Villivakkam Church * T.E.L.C Arputhanathar Church * Shekinah Abundant Life church * The Salvation army church Villivakkam

Grocery Market

Villivakkam market is one of the famous market around the neighborhood of Villivakkam which located near Villivakkam Railway Station. The market is running from the British period with the expansion of over 12000 sq.ft. It is one of the oldest markets in Chennai.