Rahu was the son of Asura king viprasithi and queen Simmigai. When the Asura prince Rahu went to the feast following the churning of elixir from the ocean of milk he learnt the subterfuge which Lord Vishnu, in the guise of a bewitching maid, practiced upon the Asuras; Lord Vishnu was distributing the elixir only among the Devas and was denying Asuras. Rahu immediately took the form of a Deva and stood mingle among them. Lord Vishnu had given a spoon of the elixir which Rahu had first taken in when the lord divined that this was an Asura. Upon which knowledge the lord hit him on the head with the ladle he had on hand, sundering Rahu’s head from the trunk. Rahu’s head grew into a snake tail and the trunk grew into a snake’s hood and was called Kethu.

One enters the temple of Naganathaswamy through the beautiful arch at the entrance. The temple of the tower is five tiered. One goes past many shops selling coconuts and flowers and choultries and wedding halls built enroute. In the space inside the temple tower is the shrine of Nritha Ganapathy and Nandhi. Suriya theertham is to the left. Mazha porutha Vinayagar is also to the left. North of the tower is the hall of hundred pillars and the North Tower.