Sivaji Ganesan was cast as Shiva, and Savitri as the goddess Parvati. R. Rangasamy did the make-up for Ganesan, and Savitri was given green make-up to portray her character. K. B. Sundarambal was chosen to play Avvaiyar, reprising her role in the 1953 film of the same name. Nagesh was cast as Dharumi, and had a call sheet of one-and-a-half days to finish his portion. Besides directing, producing and writing, Nagarajan appeared as Nakkeerar. M. Balamuralikrishna initially wanted to portray Hemanatha Bhagavathar but Nagarajan refused, believing T. S. Balaiah would be able to emote the character better. Balamuralikrishna agreed, and remained on the film as a singer.