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Nandi: the bull who faces Shiva
नन्दि
Nandi is the bull who carries Shiva and guards the gate of Kailash, his mountain home. Almost every Shiva temple has a stone Nandi seated in front of the shrine, looking straight at the lingam, and devotees whisper wishes into his ear for him to pass on to Shiva. His name means "joy" in Sanskrit, and in the Shaiva Siddhanta tradition he is also the first guru.
Story
People whisper their wishes into Nandi's ear so that he passes them on to Shiva. The gatekeeper of Kailash and, in Shaiva Siddhanta, the first guru, teacher of Tirumular and Patanjali.
Family and companions
serves
Festivals
✅ Who he is and what he means
Nandi is a vahana, a god's mount, but far more than transport.
- Mount and gatekeeper — He carries [Shiva](/en/deities/shiva/) and guards Kailash. The oldest Shaiva texts give the name Nandi to a doorkeeper in human form; joining the name to the bull came later, and Shaiva Siddhanta still keeps the two apart.
- Facing the lingam — The Shaiva Agamas, temple manuals composed between about the 5th and 12th centuries, set him on the temple's central axis, facing the lingam. That is why you can draw a straight line from his eyes to the sanctum.
- The patient devotee — Seated, still, eyes on Shiva: he is read as the soul that keeps its attention on God, and in yogic terms as the mind given to Shiva.
- The ear — Devotees whisper their wishes into his ear, usually the right one, trusting Shiva's first guard to carry the message.
- Nandi flag — A flag with a seated bull is used as the flag of Shaivism, especially among Tamils; the bull was the emblem of the Pallava kings.
The key stories
The Puranas make Nandi the son of the sage Shilada, who did penance for a child blessed by Shiva. The boy grew into a devotee so single-minded that, after austerities of his own, he became Shiva's gatekeeper and mount; a regional tradition places this on the Narmada, at Nandikeshwar near Jabalpur.
Shaiva Siddhanta remembers him as a teacher: chief of the Siddhas, initiated by Shiva and Parvati, who passed his knowledge to eight disciples, among them Tirumular and Patanjali.
One story ties him to the Ramayana. Kept waiting at Kailash, Ravana fidgets like a monkey, and Nandi curses him: a monkey will burn his kingdom. [Hanuman](/en/deities/hanuman/) later does exactly that. In the Tamil Tiruvilaiyadal Puranam he even takes the form of a whale to bring Shiva and [Parvati](/en/deities/parvati/) together again.
Where to see the great Nandis
Every Shiva temple has a Nandi; these are the ones people travel to see.
Bengaluru: the Bull Temple
Dodda Basavana Gudi in Basavanagudi, built in 1537 under Kempe Gowda, the city's founder, around a granite Nandi about 4.6 m high and 6.1 m long, blackened by years of charcoal and oil and regularly covered in butter. The [Dodda Ganapathi temple](/en/bengaluru/dodda-ganapathi-temple/) is a minute away.
Bengaluru: Gavi Gangadhareshwara and Nandi Hills
At the Gavi Gangadhareshwara cave temple in Gavipuram the setting sun on Makar Sankranti passes between the horns of the Nandi outside and lights the lingam ([details](/en/bengaluru/darshan/)). [Nandi Hills](/en/bengaluru/nandi-hills/), 60 km north, may take its name from him: one story says the hill looks like a sleeping bull, another credits an old temple and its Nandi.
Mysore: Chamundi Hill
About halfway up the hill to the [Chamundeshwari temple](/en/mysore/chamundeshwari-devi-temple/) sits a Nandi 4.9 m tall and 7.6 m long, carved from a single piece of black granite.
Thanjavur and Lepakshi
In the Brihadisvara temple at Thanjavur a monolithic seated Nandi has its own pavilion facing the sanctum; at Lepakshi in Andhra Pradesh a huge granite Nandi, carved from one block, lies about 200 m from the Veerabhadra temple.
Festivals and visiting
Nandi is honoured with Shiva on [Maha Shivaratri](/en/festivals/mahashivaratri/). In Bengaluru he has a fair of his own: Kadalekai Parishe, the groundnut fair, held at the Bull Temple for two or three days around the last Monday of the lunar month of Karthika, when farmers offer their first groundnuts to the bull. On [Makar Sankranti](/en/festivals/makar-sankranti/) crowds gather at Gavi Gangadhareshwara for the sunbeam between his horns.
In any Shiva temple shoes come off at the entrance; watch how local devotees approach Nandi and the shrine before you follow.
❓ FAQ
Who is Nandi?
The sacred bull of Shiva: his mount (vahana), the guardian of Kailash and, in Shaiva Siddhanta, the first guru. His statue faces the lingam in almost every Shiva temple.
Is Nandi a cow or a bull?
A bull. In art he is a recumbent bull with a hump, dewlap and bells; some texts also give him a human-like form with a bull's head and four arms.
Why do people whisper in Nandi's ear?
Because, as Shiva's chief guard, he is believed to carry the message straight to Shiva. Most people use his right ear.
Where is the Nandi temple in Bangalore?
Dodda Basavana Gudi, the Bull Temple, is on Bull Temple Road in Basavanagudi, south Bengaluru, next to the Dodda Ganapathi temple and Bugle Rock park.
Why does Nandi face Shiva?
The temple manuals (Agamas) place him on the axis facing the lingam, and his gaze is read as a devotee's undivided attention to God.