Constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture, the temple is glorified in the Naalayira Divya Prabandham, the early medieval Tamil canon of the Alwar saints from the 6th–9th centuries CE.

The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the Government of Tamil Nadu.

[4] He was born in a Mallar family at Thirukuravur (modern day Alwarthirunagiri) in the southernmost region of the Tamil country.

[5][6] According to legend, as a child he responded to no external stimuli and his parents left him at the feet of the deity of Sri Adhinathar of Nagar tribe in Alwarthirunagari.

It appears he was in this state for as long as sixteen years when a Tamil poet and scholar in Madurai named Madhurakavi Alwar saw a bright light shining in the south, and followed it until he reached the tree where the boy was residing.

Unable to elicit any reaction from the child, he asked him a riddle: "If the small is born in a dead's body (or stomach), what will it eat and where will it stay?"

Along with the three Samaya Kuravargal, the Shaiva Nayanars Appar, Sundarar and Sambandar, they influenced the ruling Pallava kings and queens, changing the religious geography from Buddhism and Jainism to Hinduism.

In modern times, the temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the Government of Tamil Nadu.

[12] Brahmanda Purana one of the eighteen sacred texts of Hinduism and written by Vyasa contains a chapter called Navatirupati Mahatmyam.

During the 18th and 19th centuries CE, the temple finds mention in several works like 108 Tirupati Anthati by Divya Kavi Pillai Perumal Aiyangar.

An idol of Nammalvar is also brought here on an Anna Vahanam (palanquin) and his paasurams (verses) dedicated to each of these nine temples are recited.

As at other Vishnu temples of Tamil Nadu, the priests belong to the Tamil Brahmin Vaishnavaite community.The temple rituals are performed four times a day: Kalasanthi at 8:00 a.m., Uchikalam at 12:00 p.m., Sayarakshai at 6:00 p.m., and Ardha Jamam at 8:00 p.m. Each ritual has three steps: alangaram (decoration), neivethanam (food offering) and deepa aradanai (waving of lamps) for both Adinathar and Athinathanayagi.