Parvati mocked the penance of Shiva for world betterment. Shiva decided to condemn her behavior, and ordered her from Kailasam to go to earth to do penance. Parvathi finds Jambu forest to conduct her penance in the form of Akilandeswari as per the wish of Shiva. She made a lingam under the Venn Naaval tree from the water of the river Cauvery, and began her worship. The lingam is called Appu Lingam.
Siva finally gave Akilandeswari darshan and taught her Siva Gnana. Akilandeswari received lessons from Shiva facing North, who stood facing West.There were two 'Malyavan' and 'Pushpadanta' Siva Ganas. They still quarrel with each other even though they are Siva Ganas and fight over one thing or another. 'Pushpadanta' was cursed in one battle to become an elephant on earth and the other cursed the former to become a spider on earth. The elephant and the spider came to Jambukeswaram, and they started to worship Siva.
The elephant gathered water from the Cauvery river and performed regular ablution under the Jambu tree to the lingam. The spider built his web over the lingam to avoid the dropping of dry leaves over it and to avoid sunlight from falling directly on it. Once the elephant saw the web and thought lingam was dust.Via pouring water, the elephant ripped them and washed the lingam, and the cycle continued everyday. One day the spider got angry and crawled into the elephant's trunk, biting the elephant to death and killing itself. Siva, moved by the two's deep devotion in Jambukeswara form, relieved them from the curse. This place came to be known as Thiru Aanai Kaa as an elecphant worshipped Siva here. The name 'Thiruaanaikaa' will be 'Thiruvanaikoil' later.
As a result of committing a sin by killing the elephant, the spider was born as the King Kochengot Chola in the next birth and founded 70 temples and this temple is one of them. Nalayira Divya Prabandham cites the account of the Chola building seventy temples along with this temple. Remembering in his previous birth his enmity with the elephant, he constructed the Siva Sannathi, so that not even a small elephant could enter. The entrance to the Jambukeswara sanctorum is only 4 feet high and 2.5 feet long.
In architectural terms, the temple surpasses the Srirangam Ranganathaswamy temple, both of which were built at the same time. Within the temple are five enclosures. The massive outer wall, known as the Vibudi Prakara, covers the fifth precinct, stretches over a mile and is two feet thick and over 25 feet high. Legend maintains that Shiva 's work with the laborers built the wall. The fourth precinct has a 796-pillar hall and 1493 spans 2436 feet.It also has a tiny tank fed from eternal springs. The third enclosure, by 197, is 745 feet enclosed by a wall 30 feet high. This area has two 73 and 100 foot tall gopurams, a thoppu coconut and a small water tank. By 197 the second enclosure is 306 foot, a 65 feet high gopuram, and some small shrines. The sanctum has the innermost enclosure that measures 126 feet by 123.