The Nandi temple is located at the top of Chamundi Hill in Mysore. This Nandi idol is more than 350 years old and is one of the oldest statue of Mysore.
Nandi temple is about 156 km from Bangalore and 53.9 km from Mandya and just 12 km from Mysore.
The statue is about 16 feet tall and 24 feet long, and this Nandi on Chamundi Hill is the third largest Nandi in India. The creation of this colossal image is attributed to Dodda Devaraja Wodeyar (1659-1673), the famous Maharaja of Mysore.
Originally it was a huge rock. An image of Nandi is carved from this rock. When you visit this Nandi look around to see similar rocks around this site. Actually behind the Nandi image is a small cave temple under the rock dedicated to Lord Shiva. These rocks are painted with white and ocher stripes.
Nandi is depicted in a sitting posture with its left foreleg folded. Although the image is large in scale, the finer details are equally brilliantly executed. You can see many sequences of intricately carved bells and garlands on Nandi. With his ears in rapt attention, the expression on his face is not to be missed. The entire image sits on a platform 4 feet or more high.
