 It is one of the "Divya Desams", the 108 temples of Vishnu revered by the 12 Alvar saint-poets.The Ramaswamy temple, which has scenes from the Hindu epic "Ramayana" depicted on its walls, was constructed by Govinda Dikshitar, the minister of successive Nayak rulers, Achuthappa Nayak (1560–1614) and Raghunatha Nayak (1600–34).He added a commercial corridor between the temple and the older Chakrapani temple, which in modern times is called Chinna Kadai Veethi, a commercial street in the town.