The performance of rituals by the rishis got disturbed since their womenfolk could not control their desire and started following the Lord. Annoyed, and without realizing who the Bikshatana was, the rishis endeavoured to destroy Him by means of incantations. They created a fierce tiger from the sacrificial fires and rushed it upon Him. He seized it, tore it apart with his finger nails, stripped off its skin and wrapped it about Himself as a silken cloth! Not discouraged by this failure, the rishis renewed their offerings to the sacrificial fires, created poisonous cobras from that fire. The cobras docilely became things of beauty, coiling around His neck and limbs. Then, the Lord began to dance!

But then, the rishis created a malignant monster called muyalaka and sent it after the Lord. The name muyalaka itself means ''a person who can cause the illness called muyalakam''. Muyalakam is also referred to by Saint Arunagirinathar in one of his thiruppugazh songs. It is a disease like "fits". Which can afflict people suddenly and incapacitate them. Lord Siva conquered Muyalaka, placed him under His right foot, pressed the tip of His toe, and broke the creature's back, so that it writhed upon the ground. Siva resumed His dance, witnessed by gods and rishis.

The performance of rituals by the rishis got disturbed since their womenfolk could not control their desire and started following the Lord. Annoyed, and without realizing who the Bikshatana was, the rishis endeavoured to destroy Him by means of incantations. They created a fierce tiger from the sacrificial fires and rushed it upon Him. He seized it, tore it apart with his finger nails, stripped off its skin and wrapped it about Himself as a silken cloth! Not discouraged by this failure, the rishis renewed their offerings to the sacrificial fires, created poisonous cobras from that fire. The cobras docilely became things of beauty, coiling around His neck and limbs. Then, the Lord began to dance!

But then, the rishis created a malignant monster called muyalaka and sent it after the Lord. The name muyalaka itself means ''a person who can cause the illness called muyalakam''. Muyalakam is also referred to by Saint Arunagirinathar in one of his thiruppugazh songs. It is a disease like "fits". Which can afflict people suddenly and incapacitate them. Lord Siva conquered Muyalaka, placed him under His right foot, pressed the tip of His toe, and broke the creature's back, so that it writhed upon the ground. Siva resumed His dance, witnessed by gods and rishis.

Desperately, the rishis ordered their real power and tool for yagnas(rituals), namely the sacrificial fire (agni) itself, to destroy the Intruder. The Lord just took it easily on His left hand! Finally, the rishis chanted the Veda manthras and fired the four vedas themselves as ammunition at the Lord. The Vedas prostrated at the feet of the Lord and got themselves converted into anklets to adorn Him The Lord laughed!
With the monster under His feet as a dwarf, He took His viswarupa form - a figure that is so big that it covers the entire universe. He started dancing. All the worlds and all the lives and materials on them started reverberating to His rhythmic movements and began shivering. Only then, the rishis realized that they were fighting the Supreme Lord Himself! Repenting for their mistake, sin, the rishis prostrated before Him and begged for forgiveness The benevolent Lord not only forgave them and bestowed them with wisdom (gnana) but also assumed His benign form with four arms and performed ananda-tandava to make them happy! Thus, Siva came to be venerated as ananda-tandava-moorthy, the Nataraja.

When adhisesha, the sacred multi-hooded cobra who serves Lord Vishnu as His bed, prayed to Lord Siva, above all things, for the boon of beholding once more this mystic dance, the Lord promised that he should behold the dance again along with sage vyagrapada in sacred Thillai, the present day Chidambaram,which is considered as the center of universe.