The temple is revered by the Tevaram hymns of Saiva nayanars, the 7th century Tamil saint poets and classified as Paadal Petra Sthalam.

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

[2] Once, two asuras, Madhu and Kaithaba tricked the gods to steal the Veda, chopped it to pieces and hid it in the bottom of the sea.

[5] Sankaracharya, the 8th century scholar in the advaita school of Hinduism is believed to have visited the temple to put down the power of evil.

[8] A 13th-century inscription indicates the practise of animal sacrifice to the goddess, which continued along with offering intoxicating drink till the early 2000s.

[10] Famous saints like Pattinathar, Topeswamigal and Ramalinga Swamigal lived in this town and prayed Thyagaraja in this temple.

On the day of the full moon of the Tamil month karthigai, the armour is removed and the representation of the god is visible to devotees.

To this day, a select group of Nampoothiri families perform the pooja and aradhana to this Lord and Goddess as desired by Adi Shankara.

[13] Other deities in the temple include Agasalingam, Thiruvotrieswarar, Thiruputheeswarar (between Vattaparaiman and Durga shrines), Kuzhandhai Eesar, Kalyana Sundarar, Jaganadhar, Annamalayar, Ramanathar, Suryan, Chandran, Nalvars, Jambukeswarar, Nagalingar, Meenakshi, Sundareswarar, Sahasralingam, Amirthakandeesar, Gowlieeswarar, and Ekapaadhar, Gunalaya Vinayagar, Aruljothi Murugan, Valar Kali.

[16] Both the Tiruvarur and Tiruvottriyur temples are believed to have the same dance poses by Shiva, as asserted by Tiruvorriyurpuranam.

[18] The temple is reverred in the verses of Tevaram, the 7th century saivite canonical work by the three saint poets namely, Appar, Sundarar and Sambandar.

translating to The temple was the home of the Hindu saint Pattinathar[20] and the location where he attained samadhi in the form of a lingam.

This temple of yore finds a definitive place in Tamil Saivite history as this is the place where the Marriage of Sree Gnanasambandar was supposed to happen but concluded in Sree Gnanasambandar being absorbed with several others into the jyothi before the marriage could be solemnised.

[22] The Nineteenth century Saint Shri Ramalinga Adigalar was a daily visitor to this temple during his younger days and has sung many poems in praise of this Lord.

The prime festival is performed in the Tamil month of Masi (February–March)[23][24] and historically draws large crowd.

[23] The Durgadevi shrine in the northern side of the temple is associated with Kannagi, the protagonist of Silappadikaram, a 2nd-century Tamil epic.

[5] Each year a 15-day festival is celebrated in honour of Durga Devi and on the last day, the thatch roof of the event is burnt to symbolize Kannagi burning Madurai at the end of the epic.

[26] In 1831, there were renewed complaints against the chief administrator over the authority of dancing girls and his right in administering the temple stating financial irregularity.

The collector upheld the action against the dancing girls and ruled that Arunachala Chetti of the left-hand would be the rightful administrator of the temple.