Lord Indra had to fight against many demons and devils. He was successful in gaining victory because King Mushkunda assisted him. He wanted to thank the king for his assistance by gifting him something and therefore asked him what he desired to have. The king asked him to give him the Shiv ling which he had, which Lord Vishnu would pray to by placing it on top of his chest. Lord Indra did not want to give him that ling, he hired a sculptor by the name of Mayan, and asked him to make six lings which were indistinguishable from that one and offered them to the king in the form of a gift. The King was smart, and came to know that they were not original and he was angered. In order to appease the king, Lord Indra gave him all the six lings and even the original one, making it a total of seven lings. The actual Shiv ling can be found in Tiravarur, whereas the other six are fixed in other places.Tiravarur houses the ling by the name of Veedhi Vidhangar; Nagara Vidangar can be found in the city of Tirunalur; Sundara vidangar can be found in the city of Nagapattinam, also in the form of Avani vidangar it can be found in Tirukavalai; Tiruvaimur houses it as Neela vidyangar; Vedranyam houses it in the form of bhuvani vidyangar and last but not the least, it can be found as Adi vidyangar in the city of Tirukaravasal. These lings are pretty small in size and one can even hold them in the palms of their hands. The word Sapta viddanga sthala is used to denote these places and the place where Lord Shiva is prayed to is referred to as Thyagarajar.