The temple has a 5 tier Rajagopuram studded with beautiful sculptures and two prakaras-corridors.  Lords Ganapathy, Muruga Nataraja, Bhairava and Navagrahas (9 planets) are in the prakaras.  Lord Dakshinamurthy graces with His Veena in the tower.

It is believed that consuming the abishek theertha serves as an effective medicine reducing the impact of blood related illnesses, fractures, impaired vision, paralysis etc.

A demon Makkiran was doing Shiva Puja when Lord Muruga destroyed Surapanma and other demons, thus escaped the wrath of the Lord.  He came to this place, named the Lord Makkiran, his own name.  In the years followed, it changed as Magaraleesar.

Lord Brahmma, after performing puja to the Lord in this place, planted a miracle jack tree that would yield one fruit each day.  King Rajendra Chola struck by the wonder ordered that one person from each family should carry this fruit on their head to Chidambaram to be offered as nivedhana to the Lord.  After the pujas, it will be sent to the king.

One day it was the turn of a Brahmin boy.  He thought that the king ought to have appointed his own men for the job instead of burdening the public.  He told the people of the village that he was a boy and could not bear the weight of the fruit and requested them to do the job and offered to take care of their houses till their return.  All the people left the place together to help the boy.  The boy thought that this problem will continue only if the tree existed and he simply burnt it.  He told the people that the tree caught fire some how and was reduced to ashes.  When the king enquired the boy, he said, “You made no facility for us to carry the fruit to Chidamabaram, hence, I burnt it.”  The king replied that the boy ought to have demanded the facility and ordered him to be exiled tying his eyes.

The king accompanied the boy while being taken for exile.  He saw a golden chameleon on the way which hid into an anthill when the king tried to catch it.  While demolishing the anthill, it began to bleed and a voice condemned the action of the king.  The king fainted.  The voice sounding again said that the chameleon was none other than Lord Shiva and ordered him to build a temple.  It may be noted that the size of the Linga in the sanctum sanctorum is just the size of the tail of the creature.