As per Hindu legend, the land around Srivilliputhur was under the rule of Queen Malli. The queen had two sons called Villi and Kandan. While the two were hunting in a forest, a tiger killed Kandan. Unaware of this, Villi searched for his brother, got tired and fell asleep. In his dream, divinity narrated to him what happened to his brother. By divine orders,
Villi founded a city. The city is originally named after its founder, Villi forming the word Sri-Villi-Puthur.[4] Srivilliputtur is known by other names such as Varaha kshetram, Thenpuduvai, Vadeswarapuram, Vadamahadamapuram, Shenbagaranya kshetram, Vikrama chola chaturvedhi mangalam, and Sridhanvipuri.
The garden where Periyalvar is believed to have found the child Andal
As per the ancient scriptures, the place was referred as Varaha Kshetra. It was a dense forest named Champaka where the sages Bhrgu and Markandeya were doing penance and had their hermitages in the place. A demon named Kalanerai was troubling the sages and they prayed to Vishnu to relieve them from the demon. Vishnu was pleased by their devotion and appeared in the place to slay the demon. He is believed to have taken the abode in the forest reclining on Adisesha, his serpent bed, on the leaf of a banyan tree. The place thus came to be known as Vadaveshwarapuram.
Periyalvar (originally called Vishnuchittar) was an ardent devotee of Vishnu and he used to string garland to Vishnu every day. He was childless and he prayed to Vishnu to save him from the longing. One day, he found a girl child under a Tulsi plant in a garden inside the temple. He and his wife named the child as Kothai, who grew up as a devotee of Krishna, an avatar of Vishnu. She is believed to have worn the garland before dedicating it to the presiding deity of the temple. Periyalvar, who later found it, was highly upset and remonstrated her.
Vishnu appeared in his dream and asked him to dedicate only the garland worn by Andal to him. The girl Kothai was thus named Andal and was referred as Chudikodutha Sudarkodi (lady who gave her garland to Vishnu).
The practise is followed during modern times when the garland of Andal is sent to Azhagar Koyil on Chitra Pournami day where the presiding deity Lord Kallazhagar entering into River Vaigai with the garland worn by Goddess Andal and Tirumala Venkateswara Temple during [Garudostavam during the Tamil month of Puratasi (September - October)]
It is also believed that Ranganatha of Srirangam Ranganathaswamy temple married Andal, who later merged with the idol. Andal was taken in a palanquin from Srivilliputhur to Srirangam before the marriage.[6] Since Andal married Ranganatha, who came as a king (called Raja), the presiding deity is called Rangamannar.
The history of Srivilliputhur centres around the Srivilliputhur Andal Temple, dedicated to Andal. It is argued that the temple of Vatapatrasayi is present from the 8th century, but there are epigraphic records are available only from the 10th century CE. The view that the Andal temple was built during the 14th century is highly debated.
The temple has inscriptions from Chola, Pandya and Nayak rulers, spanning across various centuries from the 10th to 16th centuries. As per some accounts, the original structure was constructed by Tribuvana Chakravarthy Konerinmai Kondan Kulasekaran and the Andal temple by Barathi Rayar.
The garden where Periyalvar is believed to have found the child Andal
During the reign of Thirumalai Nayak (1623–1659) and Rani Mangammal (1689–1706), this city became very popular. Thirumalai Nayak renovated all the temples of this city. He installed choultaries, temple tanks, paintings and golden towers inside the temple. The sculptures in the hall leading to the shrine of Andal were also built by him.[5] From 1751 to 1756 CE, Srivilliputhur came under the rule of Nerkattumseval palayakkarar Puli thevar and was a maravarpalayam
Later the Fort of Srivilliputtur was ruled by Periyasami Thevar.[9] Then it fell into the hands of Mohammed Yousoof Khan. Until 1850, Sri Andal temple was under the care of the king of Trivancore. The British ruled the country till India attained freedom in 1947. The temple's gateway tower, 192 ft (59 m) tall and it is believed that this is the official symbol of the Government of Tamil Nadu (Sri Vatapatrasayi Temple Tower).
But the artist who designed the emblem for the state of Tamil Nadu Thiru.Krishna Rao denied that it is not the temple of Srivilliputhur rather it is Meenakshi Temple's West Gopuram. During the modern times, the temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu.