The story goes back to years ago, the area in which the Big Bull Temple Bangalore is constructed was very fertile for growing crops like groundnuts, peanuts, and rice. The main source of living for the farmers who had fields here was the rich cultivation of these products. During one harvesting season, a bull appears out of nowhere and went on a rampage through the fields by destroying the harvest. The farmers who witness this sudden chaos were terrified but they were also full of anger by seeing their harvest being destroyed.

After the repeated attacks of the bull, all the farmers gathered together and decided to fight the bull when he shows up next time. When the bull attacked the next day a farmer full of rage hit the bull on the head with a stick. Instead of causing more damage the bull simply sat down still and turned into a statue. But to the farmer's surprise, the statue was growing each day. Being witnessing the unnatural growth of the bull the farmers got intimidated and the whole village started praying to Lord Shiva to help them. Lord Shiva to help the poor villagers placed a metal plate on the head of the bull and the growth of the bull stopped since then.

According to some historians, the Big Bull Temple Bangalore was constructed by a ruler named Kampe Gowda in the year 1537. Kampe Gowda is also known as the founder of Karnataka’s capital city, Bangalore. Most of the temple is constructed in Dravidian architectural style. It is also very firmly believed that the origin of the river Vrishabhavati is at the feet of Nandi the bull. Only a single granite rock was used to carve out the Bill Bull statue. The height of the statue is 4.5 m and the length is 6.5 m. The original grey statue has now turned black due to the regular application of coconut oil and butter.

To celebrate the holy spirit of Nandi the bull, the festival of ‘Kadalekai Parsihe’ is celebrated by the locals. The entire Bull Temple road is decorated with lights and the temple is lit with 100,000 gleaming lamps. Vendors sell groundnuts of various varieties. People from the neighboring states also travel to visit this event. This great festival is celebrated on the last Monday and Tuesday of ‘Karthik Maas’. 

Dodda Ganesha Temple whose deity is made with butter is also a beautiful temple to visit and pray. 

• Non-veg food and alcohol are strictly banned inside.
• Photography is allowed inside the Bull temple.
• Before entering the temple, footwear should be removed outside.

The Big Bull Temple Bangalore can be visited any time of the year. But the visitors can surely time their visit with the festival of ‘Kadalekai Parsihe’ which is celebrated on the last Monday and Tuesday of ‘Karthik Maas’.

• Bangalore fort
• Cubbon park
• Lalbagh botanical garden
• Tipu sultan’s summer palace

• A metal plate was placed on the bull’s head by Lord Shiva to stop its rapid growth.
• Ganesh temple idol in the temple premise is made with butter only.
• The founder of Bangalore city constructed the temple.