The Sangili Mandapam, a big terraced hall linking these two, was built in the 17th century. The towers also date back to early 17th century. It is the largest Shiva temple in Tamil Nadu. The ''Aani Car festival'' is the most famous festival in this temple. The temple has five cars each for Vinayakar, Murugan, Nellaiappar, Kanthimathi, Sandikeswarar.
Nellaiappar Car is the third largest car in Tamil Nadu and it is the first largest man-powered car. Nellaiappar Temple is one of the ''Panchasabha'' (with the ''Thaamira Sabha''). <!--<ref>{{cite web
Lord Vishnu and sage Agastya are believed to have worshipped Shiva here.
This is a vast temple with many unique features such as the Manimandapam near the Nandi mandapam that has two huge pillars carved out of a single stone. Each giant pillar has 48 small pillars which produce musical sounds when struck.<ref>{{cite web
This temple houses a shrine to Shiva and to Parvati. There is also a shrine to Vishnu near the sanctum signifying the belief that Nellai Govindan (Vishnu) visited Tirunelveli to officiate the divine marriage of Shiva and Kanthimathi. There are several other legends associated with this temple.
There is a legend that there is a tunnel behind the Ravana sculpture in the temple corridor that connects Thirunelveli and Madurai. This tunnel was supposed to have been used by the Pandya kings and their spies on secret missions.