The temple is revered in Nalayira Divya Prabandham, the 7th-9th century Vaishnava canon, by Kulasekara alvar in eleven hymns and Thirumangai Alvar in thirteen hymns. The temple is classified as a divyadesam, one of the 108 Vishnu temples that are mentioned in the book. The temple is counted as the second in the line of divyadesams after Srirangam Ranganathaswamy temple. The temple is one of the few divyadesams where the goddess has prominence over Vishnu. Some of the other temples where such female dominance is observed are Andal Temple at Srivilliputhur, Nachiyar Koil and Pundarikakshan Perumal Temple in Thiruvellarai. During all festive occasions, the first rights are reserved for Nachiyar, who moves ahead, while the god follows her. The food served to Nachiyar is prepared with pepper instead of chillies.