There were two Siva Ganas (Siva's pupils who live in Kailash): 'Malyavan' and 'Pushpadanta'. Despite the fact that they are Siva Ganas they generally squabble with one another and battle for a certain something or other. 

In one battle 'Malyavan' reviled 'Pushpadanta' to turn into an elephant on earth and the last reviled the previous to turn into a bug on earth. The elephant and the bug came to Jambukeswaram and proceeded with their Siva love. 

The elephant gathered water from stream Cauvery and led bathing to the lingam under the Jambu tree daily. The arachnid built his web over the lingam to keep dry leaves from dropping on it and forestall daylight legitimately falling on it.

 At the point when the elephant saw the web and thought it was dust on the lingam. The elephant tore them and cleaned the lingam by pouring water and the training proceeded with every day. The bug lost control one day and slithered into the storage compartment of the elephant and bit the elephant to death, killing itself. 

Siva, as Jambukeswara, moved by the profound commitment of the two, diminished them from the revile. As an elephant revered Siva here, this spot came to be known as Thiru Aanai Kaa (thiru implies blessed, aanai is an elephant, kaa (kaadu) implies forest).Later the name 'Thiruaanaikaa' becomes 'Thiruvanaikaval' and 'Thiruvanaikoil'. 

As a result of having submitted wrongdoing by murdering the elephant, in the following birth, the insect was conceived as the King Kochengot Chola (kotchengannan cholan meaning red-looked at ruler) and constructed 70 sanctuaries and this sanctuary is the one among them.

 The record of the Chola building seventy sanctuaries alongside this sanctuary is referenced in Nalayira Divya Prabandham. Remembering his animosity with the elephant in his past birth, he fabricated the Siva Sannathi (Sanctorum) to such an extent that not so much as a little elephant can enter. The passage on the Sanctorum of Jambukeswara is just 4 foot high and 2.5 foot wide.

There was a story behind the ruler's red eyes - When he was in his mom's belly the castle soothsayer anticipated a consecrated chance to bring forth empower the infant's prosperity. The sovereign started giving birth ahead of schedule, before the time anticipated by the stargazer. 

The sovereign thus advised the worker to hang her topsy turvy for the future time so she could have a savvy and idealistic child who could head the realm uprightly. This holding up time inside the belly made the child's eyes red.

 Subsequent to turning into the ruler, he manufactured the sanctuary for Siva and Goddess Akilandeswari for the sake of Aanaikka (elephant ensured) later days it changed to Thiruvanaikovil.