Legend has it that the 5 Pandava brothers came here and placed their firearms beneath a tree. After which, they prayed to Sri Maha Prathyangira Devi and roamed the jungles. Since this is the place where the Panadava brothers held communion, this place became well known as Aivar Padi, and it was, after some years, named as Ayyavadi. Lord Vishnu assumed the avatar of Narsimha in order to destroy Hiranyakasipu, the king of demons. Prahalada, was the son of Hiranyakasipu. Using enormous power to kill the king, angered Narsimha to such an extent that it was impossible for him to judge the good from the evil and he started to wreck havoc in everyone's life and the villagers could get him to calm down, therefore they prayed to Lord Shiva and asked for his assistance. Shiva assumed a more powerful avatar, that of Sarabeswara, where he had the features of a lion and the appendages of an eagle. Lord Shiva was guided by Shakthi, who manifested as Sri Mahaprathyangira Devi, seated on Sri Sarabeswara's wings, went and calmed him down. That is why; Sri Mahaprathyangira Devi and Sri Sarabeswara are considered to be the most powerful out of all the existing energies. Acoording to the Ramayana, Ravana's son, Indrajit, implemented the �Nigumbalai Yagam�, a havan in the favor of Sri Maha Prathyangira Devi in Ayyavadi. Had he performed it properly, then he would've become successful and could've destroyed Lord Rama. Lakshman and Hanuman disturbed the puja, though. The idol of the Goddess is seen sitting on a chariot that is drawn by 4 lions, she has eight arms which carry different weapons that have the face of the lion on them.