About Bull Temple

 The Bull Temple, also known as Nandi Temple, is one of the oldest temples in the city of Bengaluru. The temple is popularly called as 'Dodda Basavana Gudi' by the locals and is the biggest temple dedicated to Nandi in the world. The architectural style of the Bull Temple is mainly Dravidian and was constructed by Kempe Gowda. It is believed that the origin of the river Vrishabhavati is at the feet of Nandi. The entire sculpture of the bull is carved out of one single granite rock. The statue is 4.5 meters high and 6.5 meters long. Coconut oil, butter and 'benne' are regularly applied to this statue. This had led to the originally grey statue to turn black.

The area in which the Bull temple is constructed was very fertile for growing rice, peanuts and groundnuts. The rich cultivation of these products was the source of living for the many farmers who had fields here. However, during harvesting season, a mighty bull would rampage through the fields and consume the produce of groundnuts. 

Nandi is considered a companion and guardian of Lord Shiva. But it is important to know how he acquired this stature.

A very virtuous sage Shilada, who was a doting devotee of Lord Shiva, was troubled because he couldn't conceive a child. Finally, Shilada decided to immerse himself in the prayers of Lord Shiva till the Lord grants him his wish for a child. Pleased by the sage's grit and devotion, Lord Shiva granted him his wish to father a child. The next day, sage Shilada found his beautiful baby boy in the middle of a groundnut field. He named him Nandi and raised his son to be a doted devotee of Lord Shiva. Nandi was always taught to place his faith in the great Lord Shiva.

Behind this enormous image, there is a Shiva lingam. Like most of the other temples of India, Bull Temple also has a story behind its establishment. It is believed that the temple was constructed to pacify a bull, who tried to gnaw away the entire groundnut grown in the fields nearby. It is also thought that the statue keeps on growing in size further and further. One can see a trident on the forehead of the bull.

 The unique feature about this shrine is that the huge image of the Lord is made out of 110 kilograms of butter after every four years. It is amazing to know that the butter never melts. After every four years, the butter deity is broken and distributed amongst the devotees.