Pasupatiswarar Temple is located in Pandanallur in the Thiruvidaimarudur taluk of Thanjavur district in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Shiva is worshiped as Pasupatheeswarar, and is represented by the lingam and his consort Parvati is depicted as Mangalambika. The presiding deity is revered in the 7th century Tamil Saiva canonical work, the Tevaram, written by Tamil poet saints known as the nayanars and classified as Paadal Petra Sthalam. This temple is associated with Parvathi playing with a ball, giving the name Pandanainallur to the village and subsequently worshipped the presiding deity in the form of a cow, giving the name Pasupatheeswarar to the presiding deity. There are many inscriptions associated with the temple indicating contributions from Cholas. The oldest parts of the present masonry structure were built during the Chola dynasty during the 11th century, while later expansions, are attributed to later periods. The temple houses a three-tiered gateway tower known as gopuram. The temple has numerous shrines, with those of Pasupatheeswarar, Mangalambiga and Adikesava Perumal being the most prominent. The temple complex houses many halls and three precincts. The temple has four daily rituals at various times from 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., and five yearly festivals on its calendar. The Panguni Uthiram during the Tamil month of Panguni (April - May) and Masi Magam in Maasi (February - March) are the most prominent festivals celebrated in the temple. The temple is now maintained and administered by Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu. Legend As per Hindu legend, Parvathi, the consort of Shiva, was playing with a ball. As per another variant, she was playing a ball game with Lakshmi and Saraswati. Shiva collated the four vedas as a ball for his consort. To avoid interference, Parvathi disallowed sunset. This resulted in natural calamity leading to the fury of Shiva and kicked away the ball to obscurity. Shiva cursed Parvathi to become a cow and ordered her to worship him in the place where the ball was floated under Kondrai tree. Parvathi in the form of Kamadhenu, the holy cow worshipped the lord in snake's lair in Pandanallur. Vishnu who herded the cow, found the cow devoid of milk one day and canned it. The cow was rescued by Shiva from the lair and Parvathi was freed off the curse. Some variants mention that sage Kanva was having the cow. It