An idol of Nandi in a Chennai temple

The largest idol of Nandi is at the Dodda Ganeshana Gudi, Bangalore.

Nandi/Nandhi is the white bull which Shiva rides, and the leader of the Ganas. The white color of the bull symbolizes purity and justice. Shiva and Nandi's association in Hindu scriptures and art can be traced to the Indus Valley Civilization, where dairy farming was the most important occupations, thus explaining the appearance of various artifacts indicating a deity much like Shiva. This deity is believed to have been worshipped as the keeper of herds, and over time, was converted into the present day Shiva, with the bull Nandi as his primary vehicle. Over time of course, Nandi was accorded the position of a lesser Hindu god and a number of temples are dedicated solely to Nandi. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (820x698, 163 KB) Description: Photograph of an idol of Nandi at the Kapaleeswarar Temple in Chennai Source: http://questier. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (820x698, 163 KB) Description: Photograph of an idol of Nandi at the Kapaleeswarar Temple in Chennai Source: http://questier. ... Chennai (Tamil: சென்னை, formerly known as Madras , is the capital of the state of Tamil Nadu and is Indias fourth largest metropolitan city. ... The Vidhana Soudha is the seat of Karnatakas Legislative assembly Bangalore (Kannada: ; (?) in Kannada and // in English) is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. ... Binomial name Bos taurus Linnaeus, 1758 Cattle (called cows in vernacular usage, kine archaic, or kye as the Scots plural of cou) are domesticated ungulates, a member of the subfamily Bovinae of the family Bovidae. ... Shiva (Sanskrit: शिव; Hindi: शिव (when used to distinguish lordly status), and written Śiva in the official IAST transliteration, pronounced as ) is a form of Ishvara or God in the later Vedic scriptures of Hinduism. ... In Hinduism, Ganas are attendants of Shiva and live in Kailasa. ... Excavated ruins of Mohenjo-daro. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Archaeology, archeology, or archæology (from the Greek words αρχαίος = ancient and λόγος = word/speech/discourse) is the study of human cultures through the recovery, documentation and analysis of material remains and environmental data, including architecture, artifacts, biofacts, human remains, and landscapes. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... A herd of Wildebeest A gaggle of Canada geese For other uses, see Herd (disambiguation). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Gopuram of temples, in south India, are adorned with colourful icons depicting a particular story surrounding the temples deity. ...

The close association of Shiva and Nandi explains the presence of a statue of Nandi at the gate of the Garbha Griha (sanctum sanctorum) of every mandir dedicated to Shiva. It also explains why the word "nandi" in the Tamil language is used as a metaphor for a person blocking the way. In Sanskrit, a bull is called "vrisha", which has another connotation - that of righteousness or Dharma. The garbha-griha is the inner or womb chamber of a Hindu temple where a statue or other manifestation of the god is kept. ... The sanctum sanctorum is the area inside a Hindu temple complex where the main deity is installed. ... The Gopuram of temples, in south India, are adorned with colourful icons depicting a particular story surrounding the temples deity. ... Tamil (தமிழ் ) is a classical language and one of the major languages of the Dravidian language family. ... Sanskrit ( संस्कृतम् ; pronunciation: ) is an Indo-European classical language of India and a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. ... Dharma (Sanskrit धर्म) or Dhamma (Pāli) means Natural Law or Reality, and with respect to its significance for spirituality and religion might be considered the Way of the Higher Truths. ...

In Hindu mythology, it was Nandi who cursed Ravana (the demon King of Lanka) that his kingdom would be burnt by a monkey (Vanara). And later Hanuman burnt Lanka when he went in search of Sita, who was kept prisoner by Ravana in Ashok Vatika. Hindu mythology is a term used by modern scholarship for a large body of Indian literature that details the lives and times of legendary personalities, deities and divine incarnations on earth interspersed with often large sections of philosophical and ethical discourse. ... A dipiction of Ravana, Hindu Demon King of Lanka In Hindu mythology, Ravana (Devanagari: रावण, IAST Rāvaṇa; sometimes transliterated Raavana and as Ravan) is the principal antagonist of the Hindu epic, the Ramayana. ... Vanara is a Sanskrit word literally meaning monkey or inhabitants of forests=like the primitive tribes (probably vaanar as pronounced in hindi). ... This article is about a Divine Entity in Hinduism. ... Sita Devi SITA ...

In addition to being his mount, Nandi is Shiva's foremost disciple. As the foremost disciple of Lord Shiva, it is important to seek the blessings of Nandi before proceeding to worship Lord Shiva. When the positive forces, the devas, and the negative forces, the asuras, joined together on a rare occasion to churn the mountain to obtain the nectar of immortality they utilized Vasuki, the serpent, as the rope. The devas pulled from one end and the asuras from the other. Vasuki was upset during the process of this churning, and vomited up a poison which became human karma. This "poison" was so dangerous that none of the devas or asuras wanted to go near it. It was extremely sticky and coming into contact with this poison, i.e, human karma, would drag the divinity down to the realms of human suffering and ego. As everyone else ran away, Lord Shiva, followed by Nandi, came forward to help as he was the only one who could counteract this deadly poison. Shiva took the poison into his hand and drank it. Nandi saw some of the poison spill out of Shiva's mouth and immediately drank if off the ground. The devas and asuras watching were shocked and wondered aloud what would happen to Nandi. Lord Shiva calmed their fears saying, "Nandi has surrendered into me so completely that he has all my powers and my protection". A disciple (from the Latin discipulus, a pupil) is one who receives instruction from another; a scholar; a learner; especially, a follower who has learned to believe in the truth of the doctrine of his teacher, and implies that the pupil is under the discipline of, and understands, his teacher... A Deva, in Hinduism, is a deity, controlling forces of nature such as fire, air, etc. ... In Hindu mythology, the Asura are a group of power-seeking deities, sometimes misleadingly referred to as demons. ... Vasuki is a naga, or one of the serpents of Hindu mythology. ... Karma (Sanskrit: from the root , to do, [meaning deed] meaning action, effect, destiny) is a term that comprises the entire cycle of cause and effect. ...

In the Natha/Siddhar tradition, Nandi is the one of the primal gurus. He was the guru to Siddhar Thirumulanathar, Patanjalinathar and others. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Guru - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ...

Reference

• Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend (ISBN 0-500-51088-1) by Anna Dhallapiccola

External links

• Shiva - the Ascetic God by Madhuri Guin (the contents of this link cannot be viewed in India)

• Inspired by the South Indian Siddhars Nandhi.com

Hinduism | Hindu mythology | Itihasa
Male Deities: Shiva | Brahma | Vishnu | Rama | Krishna | Ganesha | Murukan | Hanuman | Lakshman | Indra | Surya | more...
Female Deities: Gayatri | Saraswati | Lakshmi | Parvati | Durga | Jagaddhatri | Shakti | Kali | Sati | Sita | Vaishno Devi | Radha | more...
Texts: Vedas | Upanishads | Puranas | Ramayana | Mahabharata
This box: view • talk • edit

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Nandi