Tirukoilur is located on the highway connecting cities of Tiruvannamalai and Vellore with Southern Tamil Nadu.

Vanavan Mahadevi, the mother of Rajaraja Chola I, was born as a Tamil princess of Chera dynasty in Tirukoilur.

The temple plays a special part in Vaishnavism as it is where the first three Alvars sang the first three Thiruvandadhis compiled in Naalayira Divya Prabandam, the Sri Vaishnava canon.

As per legends, Shiva is believed to have destroyed eight different demons namely Andakasuran, Gajasuran, Jalandasuran, Thirupuradhi, Kaman, Arjunan, Dakshan and Taaragasuran.

[3] The eight temples are: While on a visit to Ceylon, the ancient female Tamil poet Avvaiyar was caught up in a torrential rain, and took shelter in the house of two women, Angavay and Sangavay.