Thiruvarur is the birthplace of Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar and Syama Sastri, popularly known as the Trinity of Carnatic music of the 18th century CE.

Roadways are the major means of transportation with a total of 94.06 km (58.45 mi) of district roads including three national highways passing through the town.

The town is known for the Thyagaraja temple, and the annual Asian biggest chariot festival held in the month of April.

The historic name of the town was Aaroor (Arur) and it finds mention in the seventh century saiva canonical work, Tevaram.

[5] The term Thiru is added to all temple cities that are mostly revered by the verses of Tevaram, which is the case of Arur becoming Thiruvarur.

Another name of Thiruvarur is Kamalaalayasetra, meaning the "holy place that is an abode of lotuses"; the town is also referred so due to the presence of the Kamalaalayam tank and the temple deity, Kamalambigai.

[10][11] As per folk legend, Thiruvarur is mentioned as the capital town of a legendary Chola king, Manu Needhi Cholan, who killed his own son to provide justice to a cow.

[13][14] Thiruvarur was one of the five traditional capitals of the Chola empire[15] and the history of town revolves around the Thyagarajaswamy temple.

[16] Thiruvarur is mentioned in the saiva canonical work, Tevaram by Thirugnana Sambanthar, Tirunavukkarasar and Sundarar, the foremost Saivite saints of seventh–eighth century CE and classified as Padal petra stalam.

[17] Tirunavukkarasar mentions several traditions of the temple like Marghazhi Aathirai Vizha, Panguni Uttirai Perunaal and Veedhivitakanin Veedhi Panni.

[17] Inscriptions from the temple indicate Thiruvarur as the capital of Kulothunga Chola I (1070–1120 CE), during which the town emerged a centre of saivism.

[16] The royal patronage continued and the town flourished as a cultural centre during the rule of the Nayaks, Vijayanagar kings and Marathas.

[32] Thiruvarur lies in the Kaveri River basin and the main occupation of the inhabitants of the town and surrounding regions is agriculture.

[34] The daily wages of the agricultural labourers is more than the rates fixed by the Tamil Nadu government, but due to the decline in number of days of work, the income levels are lower.

[38] There are no co-operative societies who acquire the farm products and the District Purchasing Centre, operated by the government of Tamil Nadu is the major procurer.

Thiruvarur having the direct bus services to the following Cities of the State are Chennai, Vellore, Tiruvannamalai, Kanchipuram, Villupuram, Cuddalore, Chidambaram, Coimbatore, Tiruchirapalli, Madurai, Salem, Karaikudi, Hosur, Erode, Tiruppur, Kodaikanal, Palani, Dharapuram, Pudukkottai, Sivagangai, Rameshwaram, Ramanathapuram, Theni, Tiruchendur, Puducherry, Karaikal and other local services to Thanjavur, Kumbakonam, Thiruthuraipoondi, Mannargudi, Mayiladuthurai, Sirkazhi, Pattukkottai, Vedaranyam, Ariyalur, Jayankondam etc.

[3] The Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation operates close to 300 daily services connecting various cities to Thiruvarur.

[45] The State Express Transport Corporation operates long-distance buses connecting the town to Bangalore, Coimbatore, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram and Marthandam.

There are two trains from Mannargudi to Tirupathi and Velankanni to Goa, operated three times a week that pass through Thiruvarur.

[51] The Central University of Tamil Nadu, established by an act of parliament in 2009, provides collegiate education in the fields of arts and science.

[53] Water supply is provided by the Thiruvarur Municipality from Odambokki river; the distribution through water tanks located at Madapuram, Thendral Nagar, Kidarakondan, Kattapomman street, Mettupalayam, IP Koil street, Maruthapttinam and Weekly Shandy having a total capacity of 4,260 kl (1,130,000 US gal).

[55] Thiruvarur municipality is implementing underground drainage and the current sewerage system for disposal of sullage is through septic tanks and public conveniences.

[56] Roadside drains carry untreated sewage out of the town to let out raw into the sea or accumulates in low-lying area.

[11] The functions of the municipality are devolved into six departments: general administration/personnel, engineering, revenue, health, town planning and information technology (IT).

[67] The former MLA of the constituency is Muthuvel Karunanidhi, ex-chief minister and the leader of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).

[81] Law and order in the town in maintained by the Thiruvarur sub division of the Tamil Nadu Police headed by a Deputy Superintendent.

[84] The temple complex spanning over an area of 20 acres (81,000 m2) has shrines dedicated to Vanmikanathar, Thyagaraja, Kamalaamba and numerous other deities.

[14] The Periyapuranam, a 12th-century Saiva canonical by Sekkizhar, dedicates a chapter to those born in Thiruvarur including these two saints.

[16] There was large influx of the acumen of South Indian culture to the town during the 17th century CE due to the political unrest in Thanjavur and increased patronage of the Maratha kings to Thiruvarur, resulting in developments in music and dance.

[90] Kulothunga Chola II (1133–50 CE) enlarged the temple ritual to have fifty six festivals, some of which are followed in modern times.