Bull Temple (Banglore)

Image credit : shivselvan

The Bull temple of Mysore is located in the Southern part of India in the state of Karnataka. It was constructed in the 6th century and is dedicated to Nandi, the sacred bull of Lord Shiva. The Structure of the holy bull is carved out of a single block of Granite rock. The temple reflects the specimen of the Dravidian architecture. The Gigantic bull measure 4.57 meters in height and 6.10 meters in length. The temple houses Nandi the Vahana or vehicle of Shiva, along with sculptures of God Surya and goddess Candra on their chariots drawn by horses. Also there is a small lingam shrine bedecked with the exquisite Gopuram. The Bull temple, Mysore comes to liveliness during the Shivratri festival.

Image credit : Nataraj Metz

Image credit : shivselvan

The temple built by Kempe Gowda, a typical example of the Dravidian-style temple, is situated in Basavanagudi. The temple has a huge monolithic bull 4.5m tall and 6m long. It is believed that the source of the river Vishwa Bharathi originates from the feet of the Nandi.

Image credit : Daniele Muscetta

The bull has a small iron plate on its head to prevent it, as tradition says, from growing. Also there is a Ganesh temple, with a large deity made of 110 kilos of butter. The deity of butter is broken up and distributed every four years. In Kannada, Basava means bull, which gives the name Basavanagudi to the locality.