 Until 1860, Thiruvarur was the headquarters of a taluka of the same name. It was declared a third grade municipality in 1914 during the rule of British. It was promoted to a first grade municipality in 1978. The municipality has 30 wards and there is an elected councilor for each of those wards. The municipality has seven revenue villages: Vilamal, Vijayaruram, Thiruvarur south, Thiruvarur North, Keelakavadhukudi, Ramage, Sundaravilakam and Kidaramkondan. The functions of the municipality are devolved into six departments: general administration / personnel, engineering, revenue, health, town planning and information technology (IT). All these departments are under the control of a municipal commissioner who is the executive head. The legislative powers are vested in a body of 30 members, one each from the 30 wards. The legislative body is headed by an elected Chairperson assisted by a Deputy Chairperson. Tiruvarur district was created in January 1997 and Tiruvarur town became the district headquarters.
