The spider wove a web over the "lingam" to protect it, whereas the snake took the gemstones from the "naaga-land" to decorate the lingam. The elephant took the river water to clean/bathe the lingam. But, the three were unaware of each others' existence, therefore each of them considered itself to be the sole guardian to the lingam. With each of them coming at different times daily, of course the spider and the snake got furious whenever they see their webs and the decorated precious stones got washed away, without knowing, from the elephant's conduct of cleansing the lingam everytime with river water.