The temple was founded in the 12th century CE during the reign of the Chola monarch Kulothunga Chola I. Extensive lithic inscriptions carved into the granite base of the sanctum sanctorum document imperial land endowments, judicial rulings, tax remissions, and gold donations made by Chola, Pandya, and Sambuvaraya chieftains. When the French established colonial control over Pondicherry in the 17th and 18th centuries, Villianur was an essential administrative commune.
French historical records note that French Governors—including Joseph François Dupleix and his wife Jeanne Dupleix—held high regard for the Villianur temple and participated personally in the ceremonial pulling of the temple chariot during the annual Brahmotsavam, an extraordinary historical precedent of colonial civic participation.
