Nandi
நந்தி नन्दी
Also Nandikeshvara, Adhikaranandi, Basava.
Saiva
Who this is
Nandi is the bull who faces Siva in every Siva temple, and the devotee looks at the god between his horns. He is not only a vehicle: he is the gatekeeper, the chief of the ganas and the first of the pupils, and the Saiva tradition holds that what Siva taught was passed through him. The custom of whispering a request into his ear and asking him to carry it in is one of the most widespread acts in Indian temple practice, and it is done quietly, with the hand cupped, by people who would not call themselves devout.
How to recognise them
A seated bull, facing the sanctum, usually of black granite, polished by hands at the horns and the ear. Humped, garlanded, with a bell at the neck and a chain over the back. Never standing, always couched with the forelegs folded, which is the posture of attention rather than rest.
Family and companions
Born to the sage Shilada, who asked for a deathless son, and given by Siva. Married to Suyasha. The chief of the ganas, Siva’s attendants, and the gatekeeper of Kailasa. Basava, the twelfth century Lingayat reformer, carries his name in Karnataka, and the connection is made explicitly there.
How they are worshipped
Monday; Pradosham at dusk on the thirteenth; Maha Sivarathri.
The request whispered in the ear is the household practice. His horns frame the sanctum and the line of sight is kept clear. Monday and Pradosham are his, and at Pradosham he is bathed and worshipped first, because the hour belongs to the dance and he is said to be the one holding the beat. Milk and grass are offered. Bulls are not worked on his days in farming households.
The stories
As they are told, with the disagreements left in
Why the request is whispered
He is the gatekeeper, and nothing reaches Siva that does not pass him. A devotee who wants something cups a hand at his ear and says it quietly, and the quietness is part of the form: the thing is for the god and not for the queue behind. In many temples the devotee then covers the ears of the bull so that the request stays with him until it is delivered. The practice has no scriptural basis anybody cites, is done everywhere, and is one of the few temple customs with no priest involved in it at all.
The night the ganas looked away
At the Pradosham hour, the tradition says, Siva dances between the horns of Nandi, and the ganas and the gods gather. In the Tamil temples the abhishekam at Pradosham is given to Nandi first and the devotee stands behind him, looking through, rather than approaching the sanctum directly. Being the one the god dances on is a strange honour for a vehicle, and the Saiva texts are at pains to say that he is a vehicle by choice and a pupil by nature, the two not being in conflict.
Where the regions differ
- Tamil
- Kerala
- Telugu
- Kannada
- North
- Maharashtra
- Bengal
- Punjab
- Assam
- Sri Lanka
- Nepal
- Gujarat
- Odisha
- Mithila
- Kashmir
- Tulu Nadu
- manipur
- rajasthan
- konkani
- sindhi
- jharkhand
- himalayan
- kodava
- Tamil Nadu
- The great monolithic Nandis of Thanjavur and Lepakshi, and the Pradosham abhishekam given to him before the sanctum is approached.
- Karnataka
- The Bull Temple at Bengaluru and the Lingayat tradition, in which Basava carries the name and the reformer and the bull are consciously linked.
- North India
- Facing the linga in every Siva temple, with the horns framing the view, and the whispered request as common there as in the south.
- Nepal
- The Nandi before Pashupatinath is of gilt bronze and the whispering custom is kept there as well.
Their days
Every one of these has a page of its own
Where to see them
From the temple directory
- Brihadeeswarar Temple (Peruvudaiyar Koil) Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu
- Arunachaleswarar Temple Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu
- Thillai Nataraja Temple Chidambaram, Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu
What is said
From the mantra library