As per Hindu legend, the ruler of the region asked a shepherd to provide milk to the temple daily. The shepherd was a staunch devotee of Shiva and he was happily providing the quota of milk to the temple for ablution of the presiding deity. The government's headman who was living close to the temple asked the shepherd to give the milk he is offering to the temple to him and threatened him not to reveal this to the king.
At a later point, the temple priest informed the king that the temple was not receiving the milk from the shepherd. The king wanted to punish the shepherd and asked him the reason for disobeying his order. Out of fear of the headman, the shepherd remained silent, which angered the king further. He ordered the shepherd to be slaughtered.
The shepherd was praying to Shiva to relieve him off the punishment. When he was about to be slaughtered, Shiva stopped it with his trident. Following the legend, the altar (balipeetam) of the temple is slightly away from the axis of the flagstaff and the central shrine.
As per another legend, Nala was ruling this region full of tropical grass locally called Darba after which the place came to be known as Darbaranyam (Aranyam indicates forest while Darba is a grass). Every person is afflicted by the movement of planet Saturn, which is believed to create negative effects on the lives of people.
Nala was also afflicted by the planetary movement of Saturn on a day when he skipped standard practices of cleanliness. He is believed to have resided in the temple to get himself off the curses of Shani, the planet Saturn. He prayed to Shiva and wanted him to protect all the devotees afflicted with Shani to be protected when they visit the temple.
Following the legend, people afflicted take a holy dip with oil in Nala theertham, the temple tank and wear black dress.Sambandar, the 7th century nayanar and Tamil saivite poet has revered the deity with four hymns, in one of which he refers to a contest with Jains, and his victory.
Appar and Sundarar, the other Nayanars have glorified the temple with their hymns.
Arunagirinathar, a 15th-century poet and staunch devoteet of Lord Muruga has composed hymns on the deity and this temple is attributed to Murugan worship as well.Tirugnana Sambandar, a 7th-century Tamil Saivite poet, venerated Naganathar in ten verses in Tevaram, compiled as the First Tirumurai. Appar, a contemporary of Sambandar, also venerated Dharbaranyeswarar in 10 verses in Tevaram, compiled as the Fifth Tirumurai. As the temple is revered in Tevaram, it is classified as Paadal Petra Sthalam, one of the 275 temples that find mention in the Saiva canon.
The temple is one of the nine Navagraha temples of Tamil Nadu and is a part of the popular Navagraha pilgrimage in the state - it houses the image of Shani (Saturn).