Bull Temple (Dodda Basavana Gudi)

Dodda Basavana Gudi, the Bull Temple, stands on Bull Temple Road in Basavanagudi, south Bengaluru, inside the Bugle Rock park. It was built in 1537 by Kempe Gowda, the founder of Bengaluru, under the Vijayanagara Empire. The temple is given over entirely to Nandi, Shiva's bull, and is counted among the largest Nandi temples anywhere.

The building itself is small: a shrine with a Vijayanagara-style porch, under a tower added in the early 20th century with Shaiva figures. Inside, the great granite Nandi on its plinth has been darkened by years of charcoal and oil and is regularly coated with fresh butter. A Ganesha image stands nearby. On the last Monday and Tuesday of Karthika the temple hosts the Kadalekaayi Parishe, a groundnut fair when farmers and devotees crowd the streets and groundnuts are offered to Nandi.