Munneswaram is not a single building but a complex of five temples, each with its own character and following. The central and largest temple is dedicated to Shiva, housing the presiding Lingam in a sanctum whose scale is among the largest in Sri Lanka. Surrounding it are temples to Ganesha, Aiyanar (a deity revered by Sinhalese Buddhists under the name Ayyanayake), and Kali. The Kali temple has its own reputation -- a place associated with sorcery, cursing rituals, and spirit possession, practices noted by Jesuit priests as far back as the 16th century. A Buddhist temple, Pushparamaya Vihara, was added after the 19th century. The whole complex sits in the village of Munneswaram, in the Puttalam District's historic Demala Pattuva -- the "Tamil Division" -- where Sinhala and Tamil populations have lived alongside each other for centuries.

Portuguese colonial officers destroyed the temple twice, handing its properties to the Jesuits, who built a Catholic chapel over the foundations. But before the demolition, local administrators managed to hide many of the temple's idols, and in both cases, the community rebuilt what had been torn down. After the first destruction, the Munneswaram area fell under the expanding Kingdom of Sitawaka. Its king, Rajasinha I, who spent his reign from 1581 to 1593 harassing the Portuguese, rebuilt the temple. Continuous conflict depopulated the surrounding countryside and left irrigation tanks in disuse, but the temple persisted. When the Portuguese destroyed it again in the early 17th century, ordinary people rebuilt it once more. By the 1750s, Kirti Sri Rajasinha of the Kandyan Kingdom had the superstructure restored, capping it with a silver kalasam in the Dravidian architectural tradition. Consecration ceremonies were performed in 1753.

The centuries took their toll on the temple's surroundings even as the temple itself survived. Continuous warfare depopulated the Pattuva region. Paddy lands reverted to slash-and-burn agriculture. By 1816, Munneswaram village had barely 64 residents, and the entire Pattuva held just over 1,000 people across 63 villages. British colonial policies then transformed the landscape, converting subsistence farmland into coconut plantations. Workers migrated in from the interior, the demographics shifted, and the original Pattuva families became disconnected from the temple's administration. When outsiders began encroaching on temple properties, a few Munneswaram villagers took the case to Chilaw district court, leading the British to recognize a temple trust. That trust came under the control of Cumaraswamy Kurukal from Colombo, whose family maintains the hereditary priestly role of the Shiva temple to this day.

The annual Munneswaram festival draws devotees from every faith on the island. What was once an 18-day affair has expanded since the 1960s to 28 days, spanning August and September. It begins with the hoisting of the temple flag and unfolds through 13 days of internal processions where images of Ganesha, Skanda, and the presiding goddess are paraded through the Shiva temple's outer pathways. On the penultimate day, the goddess rides a massive wooden chariot pulled by devotees through the streets. The climax comes on the final day, when two great chariots process to the Deduru Oya river for the thirtham -- the holy bath ceremony. Thousands of devotees plunge into the water alongside the sacred images. Then the procession returns to the temple through Chilaw, accompanied by the deep drone of nadeswaram pipes and the sharp rhythm of thavil drums, passing the Ayyanayake and Kali temples before entering the main sanctuary.