Famous Nandi: Enormous Bulls In Front of the Shiva Temples of India

Nandi: Enormous Bulls In Front of the Shiva Temples of India

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Nandi is the name for the bull and Vahana(carrier) of the incomparable Lord Shiva and the guard of Shiva and Parvati.

Nandi is also otherwise known as Nandikeshwara or Nandideva . He is additionally the guardian deity of Kailash i.e.the house of Lord Shiva. Practically all Shiva temples show stone-sculptures of a seated Nandi, for the most part confronting the pedestal of Lord Shiva in the Garbhagriha or Sanctum Sanctorum.

The word Nandi implies glad or cheerful . There are likewise various temples exclusively dedicated to ‘Nandi’.  Some puranas depict ‘Nandi’ or ‘Nandikeshwara’ as a bull face with a human body that takes after that of Lord Shiva in extent and angles despite the fact that with four hands . Out of which, two hands hold the ‘Parasu’ ( the hatchet) and ‘Mruga’ ( deer) and the other two hands in a folded form that is to pay respect . As indicated by a few different puranas , ‘Nandi’ was brought into the world by a sage called ‘Shilada’ . The sage Shilada became the biological father of Nandikeshwara by the grace of Lord Shiva.

Image of Nandikeshwara

Image source: Wikipedia

Bull seal from Indus Valley Civilization

Image source: Wikipedia

A few bull-seals found in Mohenjo daro and Harappa, prompted the archaelogists to arrive at the conclusion, that the worship of Nandi has been a long standing tradition for a huge number of years.The veneration of Shiva and Nandi can in this way be followed back to the Indus Valley Civilization time .  The renowned ‘Pasupati Seal’ portrays a seated figure, which is typically recognized as Shiva. Some of the absolute large Nandi sculptures found in different parts of India are Brihadeeswara Temple nandi,Lepakshi Temple Nandi,Nandi at Chamundi Hills near Mysore, Mahanandiswara Swamy Temple Nandi of Kurnool ,Ramappa temple nandi near Warangal etc.

Lepakshi Nandi Sculpture( Anantapur region of Andhra Pradesh)

Image source: Dreams time.com

This solid figure of Nandi made out of granite estimates 4.5m in tallness and 8.23 m long. Accepted to be the biggest Nandi sculpture in India, it draws in travelers en masse.

Enroute Sri Chamundeshwari Temple on Chamundi Hills( Mysore, Karnataka), this monolithic Big Statue of Nandi Bull, which is approx 15 feet in height and 25 ft long, carved from a single piece granite stone is situated.

Mahanandiswara Swamy Temple Nandi of Kurnool ( Andhra Pradesh) located east of the Nallamala Hills.Here the Nandi’s dimension is 15ft×27ft.

Image of Ramappa temple( 800 years old temple near Warangal of Telengana) Nandi

Image source: The Hindu

The Nandi sculpture here looks completely different from other Nandi sculptures in other Shiva temples. This glorious Nandi sculpture is in a “mindful” posture.

Nandi at Brihadeshwara Temple, Thanjavur,Tamil Nadu (eleventh Century CE), is one of the biggest in India. This gigantic Nandi, gauging 25 tons and estimating 19 ft long, 12 ft wide and 8 1/2 ft in tallness is made of a single square of granite.Yet, there is no rock quarry inside 100 kms of Brihadeeswarar Temple!!

Indeed, even a truck of the 25 ton limit of the present world would most likely have 15 wheels . It is awe-inspiring, 1000 years back when there was no such innovation, how this gigantic stone square was moved to the temple site!

Hoyasaleswar temple Nandi at Halebidu

Image source: Wikipedia

 It is 30 kilometres (19 mi) from Hassan city of Karnataka

This is the place where Sri Rama with his spouse Sita and sibling Lakshmana remained a few years during their exile. Gau Mukh called Pamchavati Ghat (RamKund) in Nashik of Maharashtra