Sambandar, an 8th-century Tamil Shaiva saint poet, venerated Uchinathar in ten verses in Tevaram, compiled as the First Tirumurai..As the temple is revered in Tevaram, it is classified as Paadal Petra Sthalam, one of the 276 temples that find mention in the Shaiva canon. The temple is counted as the fourth in the series of the temples on the northern bank of river Kaveri.
The temple is also called Bhairava temple. It is believed to the place where sages Agastya and Valmiki are believed to have obtained grace. The image of goddess Sivakami Amman is sported with her friends Vijaya and Saraswati.
Shrine inside the temple
The temple priests perform the puja (rituals) during festivals and on a daily basis. The temple rituals are performed three times a day; Kalasanthi at 8:00 a.m., Uchikalam at 12:00 a.m. and Sayarakshai at 6:00 p.m. Each ritual comprises four steps: abhisheka (sacred bath), alangaram (decoration), naivethanam (food offering) and deepa aradanai (waving of lamps) for Uchinathar and Uchinayagi.
There are weekly rituals like somavaram (Monday) and sukravaram (Friday), fortnightly rituals like pradosham, and monthly festivals like amavasai (new moon day), kiruthigai, pournami (full moon day) and sathurthi. Tamil New year during the Tamil month of Chittirai (April) is the most important festival. Vaikasi Visagam during May–June, Aani Thirumanjanam during June - July, Navratri during Purattasi, Annabishekam during Aipasi, Thiruvadirai during Margazhi and Karthikai somavaram are other festivals celebrated in the temple.