01Arjuna’s bow
In the Mahabharata, Arjuna does tapas for Shiva’s Pashupata weapon, and Shiva comes as a Kirata, a hunter, to test him over a boar both have shot. The temple holds that this leela was enacted for Arjuna here as well, and shows a mark on the linga left, it says, by the blow of Arjuna’s broken bow. From Vijaya, Arjuna’s name, comes Vijayamangai. The other name of the village, Govindaputhur, the temple ties to a cow that poured her milk on the linga; Appar names both Govindaputhur and Vijayamangai in his hymn. There is no gopuram, only a walled gate with Shiva and Parvati on the bull above it. Mangai Nayaki stands facing south, holding a rosary and a blue lily.
Get down at Govindaputhur on the Kumbakonam–Tiruppurambiyam side; Tiruvaikavur is next door, and the two are usually visited together.
