Qibla · Tamil Nadu
Qibla direction in Chennai
To face the Kaaba in Chennai, turn to 287.9° measured clockwise from true north, which is west (17.9° north of west). The Sacred Mosque in Mecca lies 4,382 km away along the shortest path over the globe, and this is the direction the mihrabs of the mosques in Chennai should follow.
On the compass the green needle points to 287.9°. If your phone shows true north, rotate until the heading reads 288°; with a classic magnetic compass, first correct for the local magnetic declination, which can shift the needle by several degrees.
Find the Qibla with your phone
How to face the Qibla in Chennai
Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards west and move a further 17.9° towards north: the result is the bearing of 287.9°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at west would leave you about 18° off.
Scholars agree that someone who can see the Kaaba must face it exactly, while someone far away faces its direction (jihat al-Ka‘bah) as precisely as reasonably possible. The simplest check in Chennai is a local mosque: its mihrab and prayer lines already point to the Qibla. See the mosques of Chennai. At home, mark the direction once with tape or a small arrow so the whole family prays the same way.
Why a flat map shows a different direction
A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Chennai to Mecca points to 282.2° (west), 5.7° away from the correct 287.9°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 8 km longer than the true shortest route. The Qibla follows the great circle, the shortest path on the curved Earth, which is why the bearing differs.
The angle on this page is the initial bearing of the great circle from 13.0878° N, 80.2785° E to the Kaaba (21.4225° N, 39.8262° E). It is the method used by mosque architects and by every serious Qibla calculator, and it gives one exact answer for each point on Earth.
Distance from Chennai to Mecca and Medina
Mecca is 4,382 km from Chennai as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 4,446 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 5 h 39 min, although most pilgrims from Chennai connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.
Clocks in Chennai run 2.5 hours ahead of Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Chennai rather than those of Mecca.
Finding the Qibla with the sun in Chennai
On 74 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Chennai while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in May (31 days); for example, on 1 May 2027 it happens at 12:32 local time.
On 162 days the sun stands exactly opposite the Qibla: then the shadow of any vertical object, a pole, a door frame or a plumb line, points straight towards Mecca. This is most frequent in March (31 days), for instance on 15 February 2027 at 07:47.
| Date | Sun in the Qibla direction (face the sun) | Sun opposite (shadows point to the Qibla) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January 2027 | — | — |
| 15 January 2027 | — | — |
| 1 February 2027 | — | — |
| 15 February 2027 | — | 07:47 |
| 1 March 2027 | — | 08:43 |
| 15 March 2027 | — | 09:36 |
| 1 April 2027 | — | 10:37 |
| 15 April 2027 | — | 11:29 |
| 1 May 2027 | 12:32 | — |
| 15 May 2027 | 13:35 | — |
| 1 June 2027 | 15:37 | — |
| 15 June 2027 | — | — |
| 1 July 2027 | — | — |
| 15 July 2027 | 15:02 | — |
| 1 August 2027 | 13:29 | — |
| 15 August 2027 | 12:27 | — |
| 1 September 2027 | — | 11:14 |
| 15 September 2027 | — | 10:15 |
| 1 October 2027 | — | 09:08 |
| 15 October 2027 | — | 08:09 |
| 1 November 2027 | — | 06:57 |
| 15 November 2027 | — | — |
| 1 December 2027 | — | — |
| 15 December 2027 | — | — |
Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Chennai: at 14:48 and 14:57 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.
Chennai compared with other cities
Compared with New Delhi, 1,756 km away, the Qibla in Chennai is turned 21.3° further clockwise (287.9° against 266.6°), and Mecca is 546 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Avadi (19 km), prays towards 287.9°, the same bearing to the tenth of a degree.
Across the 442 cities in India on this site, the Qibla ranges from 256.8° in Srinagar to 294.3° in Nagercoil, a spread of 37.5°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.
See all cities on the Qibla page for India.
Qibla in cities near Chennai
- Avadi287.9° · 19 km
- Pallāvaram288.1° · 19 km
- Kanchipuram288.3° · 69 km
- Ranipet288.3° · 104 km
- Tirupati287.4° · 111 km
- Vellore288.3° · 126 km
Qibla in Chennai: questions and answers
What is the Qibla direction in Chennai?
It is 287.9° from true north, which is west: 17.9° north of west.
How far is Chennai from Mecca?
4,382 km in a straight line over the globe, and 4,446 km to Medina.
When does the sun show the Qibla in Chennai?
On 74 days of 2027 the sun stands in the Qibla direction; the table on this page gives the exact time for the 1st and 15th of each month.
Why is the Qibla in Chennai not the direction shown on a map?
Flat maps distort directions. The line on a map points to 282.2°, but the shortest route on the globe leaves Chennai at 287.9°, and that is the Qibla.
Does the Qibla change during the year?
No. The direction of 287.9° is fixed; only the times when the sun lines up with it change from day to day.