the temple priests perform the "pooja" (rituals) during festivals and on a daily basis. like other shiva temples of tamil nadu, the priests belong to the shaivaite community, a brahmin sub-caste. the temple rituals are performed four times a day; kalasanthi at 8:00 a.m., uchikalam at 12:00 p.m., sayarakshai at 5:00 p.m., and ardha jamam at 8:30 p.m. each ritual comprises four steps: "abhisheka" (sacred bath), "alangaram" (decoration), "neivethanam" (food offering) and "deepa aradanai" (waving of lamps) for both annamalaiyar and unnamulai amman. the worship is held amidst music with "nagaswaram" (pipe instrument) and "tavil" (percussion instrument), religious instructions in the vedas (sacred text) read by priests and prostration by worshippers in front of the temple mast. there are weekly rituals like ' and ', fortnightly rituals like "pradosham" and monthly festivals like "amavasai" (new moon day), "kiruthigai", "pournami" (full moon day) and "sathurthi". thai poosam is a festival celebrated during january and food is distributed to poor people.