Bull temple, Basavangudi, Bangalore

Hundred of years ago, Sunkenahalli (as Basavangudi was known then) was a fertile farmland dedicated to the cultivation of groundnut crops. But a wild bull began to devour and destroy the crops. This infuriated the farmers and in an attempt to drive away the bull, one of the farmers hit it with a club. The bull sat down, became motionless and turned to stone. The stone then began to grow in size and the worried farmers turned to Lord Shiva for help. A trident (which you can see in the picture) was placed on the bull's forehead to prevent it from growing further and a small temple was built around it. Later, Kempa Gowda, the founder of Bangalore, constructed a much bigger temple in Dravidian style at the same place. The monolithic bull is 4.5m high and 6.5m long.