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The Bull temple one of the oldest temples in Bangalore, the capital
of the state of Karnataka was built by Kempegowda, a ruler under the
Vijayanagar Empire. Located in Basavanagudi, a residential and commercial
area in South Bangalore, the temple on a hillock at the southern end
of the Bull Temple road, draws thousands of devotees from all
over the country. The name Basavanangudi in the local language
Kannanda, means the Bull (Basavana) Temple (gudi).
This 16th century typical Dravidian style temple dedicated
to Lord Shiva's bull mount Nandi, is also known as the Nandi temple.
An interesting story behind this temple is that the surrounding area
known as Sunkenahalli was famous for growing groundnuts. The farmers
found that their fields were ransacked after every full moon day. One
day a farmer saw a bull grazing in the field and hit the animal with
a club. Suddenly, the bull sat down and started growing bigger and bigger.
The frightened farmer prayed to Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva
asked him to retrieve a trident (small iron plate) buried in the
earth and keep it on the bull's forehead to prevent it from growing
further. The farmer did accordingly and the bull disappeared mysteriously.
A huge stone idol was found in its place in the hillock. Since then
the farmers in the area, offer their first groundnuts to the sacred
idol. Even now one can see the trident placed on the forehead of the
bull. Legend has it that the Nandi appeared in the dream of Kempegowda
and he was asked to built a temple where the idol was located.
 Non-Hindus
are not allowed inside the five hundred year old temple, but one can
get a clear view of the Dravidian style temple architecture from outside
itself. The temple has an impressive gopuram (tower) which is
adorned with relief figures on all the sides. The 4.5m tall and
6m long mammoth, monolithic bull carved out of a single granite rock
facing north, in a crouching position is supposed to be older than the
temple itself.
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