The temple's perambulatory were constructed by Eastern Ganga Dynasty king Anangabhima Deva III, and it is dedicated to Vishnu as Kurmanathaswamy and his consort Lakshmi as Kurmanayaki.

The temple has century old Orissan Pattachitra style mural paintings in side wall of pradakshina mandapa.

The temple has primarily Vaishnava iconography and murals, but also reverentially includes Shaiva (Ganesha, Shiva) and Shakti (Lakshmi, Durga) icons.

Gajapathi Rajus of Vizianagaram are the trustees of the temple, which is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the Government of Andhra Pradesh.

The temple is situated in the Gara mandal of the Srikakulam district, which is located at a distance of 130 kilometres (81 mi) from Visakhapatnam.

[12] Srikurmam influenced the kings, officials, and Vaishnavite devotees to change their names in accordance with the religious faith they followed.

Due to his close association with the eastern Ganga kings, Naraharitirtha created the office of Bhoga Pariksha (religious head) with the aim of having the successive Madhwa saints supervise religious matters and pray for the welfare of the royal family and kingdom.

[13] The sage Narada initiated an upadesam of the Kurma Narayana mantra and asked the king to pray to Vishnu using it.

According to the Padma Purana, Brahma officiated the celestial rituals and consecrated the deity with Gopala Yantra.

After learning about the story of its origin from Swetha Chakravarthi, the tribal king constructed a tank around the lake and began worshipping the deity regularly.

[14] The devotees can directly enter the sanctum sanctorum to offer prayers, unlike the method specified by the traditional rules of Vaishnavism.

[14] The utsava deities of Govindaraja Swamy and his consorts Sridevi and Bhudevi were found in the Swetha Pushkarani in the 12th century CE.

[14] The deity of Kurmanathaswamy is made of black stone, but due to regular applications of sandalwood paste, it appears yellow.

[5] The Endowment Board of the Government of Andhra Pradesh and NGO Green Mercy took on the responsibility for the conservation of these star tortoises.

[17] Akhanda Deeparadhana (Lamp worship), Nitya Bhogam (Daily offering) and Kalyanam (Marriage) are regularly performed to the deities.

[17] In May 2011, the Andhra Pradesh State Archaeology Department extended its technical and financial support in modernising the temple and preserving the mural paintings.

[19] The Indian postal department issued a stamp featuring the temple on 11 April 2013,[20] at a price of five rupees.

[16] Days later, the temple's head priest Murali Krishna was attacked by the devotees for allegedly making a wax replica of Kurmanatha's deity.

[24][25] In September 2015, The Times of India reported about an incident of mass mortality among those 55 tortoises due to infections and poor maintenance, said to be caused by a number of environmental and man-made factors.

The number was reduced to 24, and the park's curator K. V. Ramana Murthy pointed out that the forest department agreed to conserve them, but the offer was put on hold by the high court after a petition filed by devotees and a few religious organisations.

[5] Apart from lack of manpower and proper funds, the Hudhud cyclone caused severe damage to the tortoise park.