Jambukeshwara

A shiva idol in Mysore has this name. Jambu means a blackberry tree and it is believed that Shiva had visited this place. Once the area was full of jambu trees. A sage living there was fascinated by the jambu fruit and ate it after offering it to Shiva. The seed lay in his stomach, became a tree and burst out of his head. The sage became immensely happy and began dancing in front of Shiva. Shiva asked him to return to the place of its origin, and the sage did so. Shiva followed him and then began meditating under the tree. He thus came to be known as Jambunatha.

In Shiva’s bhutagana, there were two named Malyavan and Pushpadanta. They once began arguing on who was more devoted to Shiva. Pushpadanta cursed Malyavan and made him a spider, and in retaliation Malyavan made Pushpadanta an elephant. After living thus for a while, they began praying for redemption. They were guided to the Chola kingdom and finally reached Jambukeshwara and resided there. The elephant bathed at various holy places and brought back the water for the lord and the spider wove a web to prevent leaves from falling on the lord. The elephant would brugh the web away to sprinkle the water and the spider would weave again the next day. One day the spider was irritated enough to climb inside the elephant’s trunk and bite him. The elephant trumpeted in agony and finally died. The lord appeared and blessed them both. In honour of Pushpadanta, the place was called Tiruvanakovil . Malyavan was blessed that he would be born as a Chola king and do many kind deeds. He was born as the son of Shubhadeva and Kamalavati . He ruled as Chenganna and built the Jambukeshwara temple as per Tiruvanakkavupurana.