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King Nanga Chola, then ruling this region, prayed to Perumal for a child. Perumal sent Mother Mahalakshmi to be born as the daughter of the king.  While hunting, the king found a female baby in a Lotus flower. 

The king was happy, took the child and named Her Kamalavalli-born in Lotus.  When She attained marriageable age, she saw Lord Ranganatha riding on a horse and was determined to marry Him. 

The Lord appeared in the dream of the king and expressed His desire to marry Kamalavalli.  The king took his daughter to Srirangam where Kamalavalli became one with the Lord.  Later, the king built this temple for Kamalavalli Nachiar.

As the land happens to be the birth place of Mother-Thayaar, all prominence goes to Mother in the temple and is praised as Nachiar Koil.  

There is procession deity in the sanctum for Mother only and not for Perumal.  Instead of Kumkum Prasad usually offered in Vishnu temples, sandalwood paste is offered in this temple.  In the nivedhanas, only pepper is used and not chilies.

Against the traditional practice of Perumal going through the Sorga Vasal on the Vaikunda Ekadasi day (December-January), Mother takes this privilege in this temple.

Every year, during Panguni (March – April), Lord Ranganatha, in all His splendor, leaves the Srirangam temple at 4 am to take the 6-km journey across the river Cauvery in a golden palanquin to meet His beloved Kamalavalli Naachiyar for the ‘Kalyana Utsavam’(marriage festivities). 

On this auspicious day, the entire marriage formalities between Lord Ranganatha and Kamalavalli Nachiyar is enacted at the Uraiyur Temple.

There’s a belief that an elephant of a Chozha king, which entered this place, was beaten back by a valiant hen and the elephant had to retreat. Hence, this place is also called Kozhiyoor (Kozhi means Hen in Tamil)

A specialty of this temple is that this is the only Divya Desam (out of the 108) where the Goddess is facing the Northern direction, in this case, in the direction of the Srirangam Ranganatha temple.