Bull Temple
Location:
Located in Bungle hill at the southern end of Bull Temple Rd
About Bull Temple
The Bull Temple situated in Bangalore. One of the oldest temples in
Bangalore situated in Basavanagudi and dedicated to Nandi, the mount of
lord Shiva. This 4.5 meters tall and six meters long monolithic bull is
supposed to be older than the temple housing it. It is believed that the
source of the river Vishva Bharti originates at the feet of the statue.
The Bull Temple is famous for the myth it carries and an awesome
monolithic deity of Nandi, the celestial bull, carved out in the typical
Dravidian style of architecture.
The temple was built by Kempe Gowda in the 16th century.
The image has been carved out of single granite rock. The original
colour of Nandi bull was grey which has now turned black due to the
application of coconut oil by the devotees. The statue of the bull has
been carved out of a The single rock statue attracts devotees from far
and near. Non Hindus are not allowed in the temple. The temple is busy
always with some ceremony that is on all the time at the temple
premises. On weekends, musicians present their concerts at the temple.
The awesome monolithic deity in this temple, Nandi, draws devotees from
all over the country.
Architecture
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. 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.
Ceremony
In Nov/Dec every year, when the groundnuts have been harvested,
Kadalekayi Parishe (The Groundnut fair)is held near the temple. The
first groundnuts are offered by the farmers to the sacred bull. Dodda
Ganapati, a manificent image of the Lord, is enshrined adjacent to the
Bull temple. It is believed that the source of the river Vishva Bharti
originates at the feet of the statue.
