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Manmadhan, God of Love, shot a flower arrow on Lord Shiva in this place. So the place is called Poovalur. It is also known as Manmadha puram.

Annoyed by the act of Manmadhan, Lord Shiva got angry and burnt Him to ashes.

Rathi devi, wife of Manmadhan, got back him by worshipping Lord Shiva here.

Saptha rishis worshipped Lord Shiva here and got the knowledge and so Lord Shiva is also called Gnanapureeswarar.

One of the rishis wanted to do ceremony for his ancestors. There was no river here so he wanted to do it in Gaya. He worshipped Lord Shiva and He made Ganges to flow here by throwing His silambu (anklet). So this place is considered as sacred as Gaya.

Brahma, Indran, Manamathan, and Agnideva worshipped Lord Thirumoolanathar.

There is a sub-shrine for Lord Vinayakar. Lord Subramanyar is seen with 12 hands sitting on His peacock.

Lord Thirumoolanathar is a Swayambu Lingam.

This Temple is especially connected with the legend of Manmathan. Shiva had burnt Manmatha to ashes after he tried to divert his attention by aiming arrows of love at him. A grief struck Rathi Devi prays to Shiva to restore her husband back to life. It is here that Rathi Devi got back Manmatha, the God of Love, by praying to Thirumoolanathar. As Manmathan is believed to have sugarcane bow and flower arrow, he is also known as Poovaliyan and this place came to be known as Puvaliur which in due course, became Puvalur or Poovalur.