Description:
Bull; known as Nandi, is the mount of Lord Shiva. Every temple dedicated to Lord Shiva has the Nandi on the doorsteps. But this temple, though dedicate to Lord Shiva is famous as the bull temple, because of the huge monolithic bull sitting at the doorsteps of the comparatively small temple. The temple is situated at Basavanagudi surrounded by groundnut fields around. According to a legend, once a farmer hit a bull which was trying to eat the ground nuts. The bull turned into a stone and started growing, as it started becoming huge, the farmers requested Lord Shiva, who in turn asked to place a trident on the forehead of the Bull. This made the bull stop growing. Since then the first crop of ground nut is offered to the deity in gratitude.
The temple besides was built by Kempe Gowda in the early 16th century which has a typical Dravidian architecture. The monolithic bull, which is 4.57 m high and 6.10 m long, is carved out of huge granite and is shiny black in colour and is perhaps the only largest monolithic Bull in the world. . People from far and wide come to visit this temple.
