Pakistan is a paradigm example of a failed state that has undergone an extremely dangerous form of radical Islamisation.
Bull Temple
Bull Temple was constructed in 16th century and is dedicated to a sacred bull
- Nandi carved out of a single granite block. The temple is a typical specimen
of Dravidian architecture. Kallekai parse an annual festival is celebrated at
the time of harvesting of peanuts during the month of Nov-Dec, thousands of
visitors throng the city to participate in the festival from all over the state.
About The Bull Temple
The "Bull Temple" is situated in Bangalore - the capital of Karnataka. The
sculpture of bull is the holy deity in the temple, also known as "Nandi Temple".
The gigantic bull measuring 4.57m in height and 6.10 m in length is carved out
of a single rock. It is a sculptural magnum opus.
This Bull Temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva's Vahana (vehicle), Nandi the
bull. Large number of devotees visits the enormous monolithic statue of the
sitting bull every day.
Nandi the bull of Shiva faces the temple of Lord Shiva haunch at the back
with sculptures of God Surya and Goddess Candra on their chariots drawn by
horses. There is a small Lingam shrine bedecked with the exquisite Gopuram. The
underground "Sri-Gavi Gandadhareshwara Temple" holds its own charm, every year
on 14th January known as Makara Sankranti festival, it is believed that a ray of
light passes between the horn of a Nandi outside the temple and lights the idol
kept inside. The Bull temple is full of liveliness during the Shivratri
festival.
Non Hindus are not allowed in the temple. There are continuos festive
celebrations throughout the year assisted by the musical programs held in the
temple premises.
Legend
The legend has it that the surrounding area of the temple, known as
Sunkenahalli was cultivated for groundnut. A bull started grazing in the
well-grown groundnut crop, at this, a farmer got furious and hit the bull with a
club. Immediately the bull sat down becoming motionless and was transformed into
a stone. Poor farmers were left stun and felt guilty. For their repentance they
decided to build a temple for the bull, to their surprise the bull was growing
in height. The worried farmer then prayed to Lord Shiva who advised them to
redeem a trident buried a few feet away from the bull and place the trident on
the forehead of the stone statue to stop it from growing. Farmers followed the
Lord's advice and the bull stopped growing. Still one can see the trident place
on bull's forehead.
Since then farmers offer their first crop of groundnut to the bull. The
farmer's hold a Groundnut fair known as Kadalekayi Parishe, near the temple
premises every year, to show their thankfulness. It is one of the worth visiting
places in Bangalore.
Architecture
The temple is a typical specimen of the Dravidian-style of temple
architecture constructed by Kempe Gowda. The temple is nestling in Basavanagudi
housing a scared bull of Lord Shiva, it is believed that the source of the river
Vishwa Bharathi originates from the feet of the Nandi. There is a Ganesh temple
inside the premises with a large deity all made of 110 kilos of butter. The
deity of butter is distributed as a prashada (God's food) every four years.
Farmers offer the first groundnuts to the sacred bull. The Bhoganandiswara
temple at the foothills of Nandi Hills goes back to the period of the Banas,
Cholas, Hoysalas and the Vijayanagar Kings. The image has been carved out of
single granite rock. The original color of Nandi bull was gray which has now
turned black due to the application of coconut oil by the devotees.
