It is situated in Thiruvathigai village which is about 2 kilometres east from the town of Panruti in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, India.

[1] The temple is considered the place where the Saiva saint poet Appar (Thirunavukkarasar) converted back to Saivism, and attained final salvation.

The temple is maintained and administered by Thiruvaduthurai Adheenam, a South Indian monastic institution.

Legend holds that this temple is the place where Shiva destroyed three rakshashas and the three cities created by them.

Saranarayana Perumal, another name of Vishnu, is the one who gave the arrow to Shiva for killing the demons, whose temple is also located in the town, little easterly.

As per another variant, the three sons of Taraka obtained boons from Brahma and built an impregnable fortress on earth.

During the period of Thanjavur Marathas and British Colonization, the temple acted as a fort to the armies.

There is a sixteen pillared hall called Thiruneetru mandapam, which is believed to have constructed at the behest of Thilagavathiyar, the sister of Appar to commemorate his conversion to Shaivism.

There are shrines around the sanctum in the first precinct that has a shrine of Thilagavathiar and a pillared hall housing the sixty three Nayanar saints and the deities Shani (Saniswarar), Durga, Ganesha (Siddivinayagar), Kartikeya (Muruga), a set of Lingam, Nataraja and Surya.

There is a south facing shrine in the hall before the sanctum where the image of Tripurasamharamurthy with sixteen hands is housed.

Like other Shiva temples of Tamil Nadu, the priests belong to the Shaivaite community, a Brahmin sub-caste.

The temple rituals are performed six times a day; Ushathkalam at 6:00 a.m., Kalasanthi at 8:00 a.m., Uchikalam at 12:00 p.m., Sayarakshai at 6:00 p.m., Irandamkalam at 8:00 p.m. and Ardha Jamam at 9:00 p.m. Each ritual comprises four steps: abhisheka (sacred bath), alangaram (decoration), neivethanam (food offering) and deepa aradanai (waving of lamps) for both Veerateeswarar and Thiripurasundari.

[11] The most prominent festival of the temple, Vasantha Utsavam, is celebrated for ten days during the Tamil month of Chittirai.

Afflicted by a painful illness, Thirunavukkarasar, who was originally called Dharmasenar and was then a staunch follower of Jainism, prayed for relief at this temple where his sister Thilagavathiyar served.

[14] The ruling Pallava king namely Kadava punished Thirunavukarasar in various ways and finally dropped him in a lime kiln.

[8] Tirugnana Sambandar, a 7th-century Tamil Saivite poet and a contemporary of Appar, venerated Veerateeswarar in 46 verses in Tevaram, compiled as the First Tirumurai.