One of the oldest temples in the city, Bull temple
built by Kempegowda, draws devotees from all over the country. This 16th
century typical Dravidian style temple dedicated to Nandi, the mount of
Lord Shiva, is situated in Basavanagudi. The 4.5m tall and 6m long mammoth,
monolithic bull carved out of a single granite rock here is supposed to
be older than the temple itself. The original colour of the Nandi bull
was grey which has now turned black due to the application of coconut
oil by the devotees. The bull has a trident (small iron plate) on its
forehead. According to the legend, this is kept to prevent the growing
of the stone statue of the bull.
Every year during the month of November/ December, a
festival to celebrate the harvesting of peanuts (Kadalekayi parishe) is
held here. On that occasion, farmers offer their first groundnuts to the
sacred bull.
