The pot containing nectar and the seed of creation was decorated by Lord Brahma with the sacred thread. A coconut was placed over it with mango leaves and Darbha grass and the same was kept on the peak of Mount Meru. At the time of deluge, the sacred pot was carried by the currents to Kumbakonam where it got tilted. Now Lord Siva came here disguising himself as a hunter and aimed an arrow at the vessel and broke it.

The place from where Lord Siva aimed the arrow at the pot came to be known as Banapuresam (banam means arrow). There is a shrine here for Lord Siva under the name Banapuriswarar. Due to the impact f the arrow on the pot, the coconut, mango leaves, sacred thread, etc., with which the vessel had been decorated, fell at different places, where we find today shrines dedicated to Siva.

Of these the Nageswara temple deserves mention. It has been constructed in such a way that the rays of the sun enter into the sanctum sanctorum through the openings in the gopuram only three times in a year and the rays fall right on the idol and this is considered as the worship of the Lord by Surya.