Uttaramerur a town near chengalpattu is bestowed with historic riches. It was created as a chaturvedhi mangalam by Parameswara alias Nandhivarman II. The original name was Uttarameru chaturvedhi mangalam as the name of the king was uttarameru.
Uttara always means north and dakshina south. Uttara meru translates to a meru of north. It denotes the mystic meru mountain.
It was a village predominatly vaishnavite and the whole town was laid as per the vaikanasa aagama. Some aagamas not only talk about temple planning but also city planning. The vishnu temples are always located on the west - frequently they will be referred as Metrali or Thirumetrali. Merku + Thali - a temple in the west.
Uttaramerur was studded with temples in the past. Though it is best known for its Kudavolai inscription, it has more riches to share
Thanks for illuminating on this. But for sure, Metrali is more for Vishnu Temples as a concept. Lot of examples. It is probably agamic recommendation.
But whether it was strictly followed - I do not know. As you have rightly cited, there might be many temples other than that of vishnu called as metrali