What to expect
Highlights
- The giant monolithic Nandi, darkened by centuries of oil and charcoal anointing.
- The 16th-century Kempe Gowda-era Dravidian temple architecture.
- The annual Kadalekai Parishe groundnut fair around the temple.
Bull Temple
The Bull Temple, or Dodda Basavana Gudi, in Basavanagudi enshrines one of the largest Nandi (bull) idols in the world — a single monolithic granite figure about 4.5 m tall and 6 m long, believed to have been carved in the 16th century under the Bengaluru founder Kempe Gowda.
Practical guide
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Before you go to Bull Temple
Entry rules not verified for this temple. Some Hindu temples admit only Hindus, and most enforce a dress code at the door. We have not verified the rule for this particular temple, so please check before you travel — especially if you are not Hindu or are visiting from outside India.
We report each site's own published rules neutrally, and only where we can source them.
Typetemple
Nearest baseSouth Bengaluru
DistrictBengaluru Urban
Best timeOctober to February
Time needed30 to 45 minutes
EntryFree
Places to visit9→Listed businesses46→The Dravidian-style temple is a living Shiva shrine and the focus of the annual Kadalekai Parishe (groundnut fair) each November–December, when the surrounding streets fill with groundnut sellers and pilgrims.
Getting there
How to visit
- In Basavanagudi, South Bengaluru; the National College metro station (Green Line), autos and buses are close, and it pairs with Bugle Rock next door.
- Remove footwear at the shrine and follow the queue for darshan.
Distance by road
- Mysuru145 km
- Chennai350 km
- Hyderabad570 km
- Mangaluru350 km
- Coimbatore365 km
Road km to Bengaluru Urban; ghat roads and traffic vary — allow extra.
Timing
Best time
October to February; the Kadalekai Parishe (Nov–Dec) is the liveliest but crowded. Mornings and evenings are cooler.
Weather in Bull TempleSeasonal guide
Live forecast loads in your browser.
Today at Bull Temple
Sunrise6:09 am
Sunset6:31 pm
Golden hour best light5:31 pm–6:31 pm
Blue hour after sunset6:31 pm–6:56 pm
Sun sets toward compass bearingW · 279°
Moon tonight🌖 Waning gibbous · 77%
South-west monsoon. June to September is the south-west monsoon in Karnataka. Expect heavy showers, mostly in bursts rather than all day — carry rain cover, allow extra time for getting around, and note that ferries and open-air sites are the first things affected.
Sun and moon are calculated for this location and shown in IST. Photography windows are the hour around sunrise and sunset; the sunset bearing is degrees clockwise from true north. Moon phase is accurate to about half a day.
Visitor notes
- Free entry; modest dress and footwear removal at the shrine. Photography rules vary — ask at the temple.
Photos
Bull Temple in pictures
Stay · eat · do · rent · see · shop
Stays, food & things to do near Bull Temple
Verified hotels, homestays, restaurants, experiences, sights, shops and rentals around Bull Temple — commission-free, with direct contact. Filter by what you need.
1 place to stay near Bull Temple
45 places to eat near Bull Temple
3 sights to see near Bull Temple
S
Shravanthi Sarovar Portico
Place to stay
Hotel
Shravanthi Sarovar PorticoHotel on 13th Cross Rd, Dollar Layout, 3rd Phase, J. P. Nagar in South Bengaluru.
Book with the place itself. India’s cyber-crime coordination centre warned in April 2025 that convincing copies of hotel and pilgrimage booking sites are being pushed through sponsored search and social ads, taking payment for rooms the property never hears about. Every listing here links to the business’s own contact details and its own Google or Bing profile — we take no commission and sit in nobody’s payment path. If a booking page reached you through an ad, check the address bar against the property’s own site before you pay. Fraud can be reported on cybercrime.gov.in or on 1930.
Ranked
The best of South Bengaluru, ranked
Bull Temple sits in South Bengaluru, and these rank everything verified across the town rather than this one spot — built from the same listings shown above, ordered by the strength of the source evidence behind each entry rather than by anyone's star score. Every card shows how many places are really on it. Nobody pays to appear.
Nearest to Bull Temple, on foot
Ordered by a real routed walk from Bull Temple itself — the walking network, not a line on a map, which understates a real walk by about half again. A different question, and a different answer, from the town-wide lists below.
- Gokul Veg574 m · 7 min
- U.D Roti Ghar &Cake ghar728 m · 9 min
- Vidyarthi Bhavan728 m · 9 min
- Cafe Coffee Day733 m · 9 min
- Adyar Ananda Bhavan783 m · 9 min
- Hungerez788 m · 9 min
- Soho Bar & Grill842 m · 10 min
- Amandé Patisserie887 m · 11 min
- Thanco's Natural Ice Cream901 m · 11 min
- Harshi Super Sandwich1.1 km · 13 min
- Navodaya Military Hotel1.8 km · 22 min
- Swadesh Tadka2.3 km · 27 min
Across the whole of South Bengaluru
Ranked guides
Top experiences around South Bengaluru
8 more places around South Bengaluru, each worth a day of its own.
heritageLalbagh Botanical Garden
3.3 km · 6 min drive
A historic 240-acre botanical garden begun under Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan in the 1760s, famous for its Glass House, lake, ancient rock and the biannual flower shows.
heritageBugle Rock Park
480 m · 6 min walk
A shaded Basavanagudi park built around a 3,000-million-year-old granite outcrop with a Kempe Gowda watchtower, close to the Bull Temple.
templeGavi Gangadhareshwara Temple
1.1 km · 13 min walk
A rock-cut cave temple in Gavipuram attributed to Kempe Gowda I in the 16th century, famous for a solar phenomenon on Makara Sankranti (mid-January) when the setting sun’s rays pass between the horns of a stone Nandi to light the Shiva linga inside.
museumIndian Music Experience Museum
India's first interactive music museum, in JP Nagar, with nine themed galleries and a Sound Garden of musical outdoor installations spanning Indian classical, folk, film and contemporary music.
templeRagigudda Anjaneya Temple
6.8 km · 10 min drive
A popular Hanuman (Anjaneya) temple built on a granite hillock in Jayanagar, with a large monolithic Hanuman idol, Ganesha and Shiva shrines and steps up the rock; busiest on Saturdays and during Hanuma Jayanti.
waterfallMuthyalamaduvu (Pearl Valley)
A seasonal waterfall and picnic valley near Anekal about 40 km south of the city, within Bengaluru Urban district’s Anekal range, where a stream drops through a rocky wooded gorge beside a small Shiva temple; fullest in and just after the monsoon.
heritageBig Banyan Tree
The Dodda Alada Mara at Ramohalli about 28 km west of the city — a single roughly 400-year-old banyan whose aerial roots spread over nearly three acres so that it looks like a small forest; a shaded picnic and photography spot with a Muneshwara shrine.
templeDodda Ganesha Temple
90 m · 1 min walk
A Basavanagudi temple housing a giant Ganesha carved from a single block of granite, about 5.5 m tall, right beside the Bull Temple; the idol is periodically coated in butter (benne alankara) during festivals.
Roampedia is commission-free — own or know a stay, eatery, guide or shop near Bull Temple? List it and it appears here once verified.
Add a nearby businessBefore you go
Bull Temple — at a glance
Timings6:00 AM - 12:00 PM, 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM (approx)
Best timeOctober to February; mornings and evenings
Entry: Free
Getting here
How to reach Bull Temple
National College metro (Green Line), Basavanagudi
Getting back
Work out your return before you settle in for the sunset. Public transport here thins out sharply in the evening, and Bull Temple is easier to reach than to leave. We do not publish departure times: there is no official live feed we are permitted to republish, and a wrong time here would strand you. Check the operator directly on the day.
- KSRTC — the Karnataka state bus operator; route and schedule enquiries. Online booking.
- Indian Railways — live running and seat availability for the nearest railhead, named under “Getting here” above.
Ask at the bus stand for the time of the last service back, not the next one. If you miss it, an auto or app cab is the fallback — agree the fare before you get in.
Getting around Bull Temple
We have not assessed physical access at this place yet. Across India, step-free routes, handrails and accessible toilets are the exception rather than the rule, and pavements are often interrupted — if step-free access matters to you, contact the site or a local operator before committing to the trip.
If you need help at Bull Temple
112All emergencies (police · fire · medical)The single number to call in any emergency (ERSS).100Police101Fire108Ambulance (emergency / EMS)1091Women’s helpline (distress)1098Child helpline1363Tourist helpline (India, 24×7, multilingual)
Emergency numbers are verified against official government and state tourism sources. 112 works anywhere in India.
Nearby
What’s near Bull Temple
Walking and driving times are real routed distances, except the few marked “straight line”, which are direct-line estimates and will read short. Routing: © openrouteservice.org by HeiGIT | Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
On the map
Where Bull Temple is
Good to know
Bull Temple — frequently asked
When is the best time to visit Bull Temple?
October to February; the Kadalekai Parishe (Nov–Dec) is the liveliest but crowded. Mornings and evenings are cooler.
What are the entry fee and timings at Bull Temple?
Entry: Free. Timings: 6:00 AM - 12:00 PM, 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM (approx).
How do I reach Bull Temple?
In Basavanagudi, South Bengaluru; the National College metro station (Green Line), autos and buses are close, and it pairs with Bugle Rock next door. Remove footwear at the shrine and follow the queue for darshan.
How much time do I need for Bull Temple?
30 to 45 minutes; more during the fair.
What else is near Bull Temple?
Nearby you can pair Dodda Ganesha Temple (90 m), Bugle Rock Park (480 m), Gavi Gangadhareshwara Temple (1.1 km), Tipu Sultan's Summer Palace (1.9 km).
Read before you go
Bull Temple guides, stories & itineraries
We have not published a story about Bull Temple itself yet. These cover South Bengaluru, the town it sits in, and the wider district.
Karnataka-wide guides & itineraries
Route-level itineraries and practical guides for the rest of Karnataka.
Photographs: Smuconlaw, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0), రహ్మానుద్దీన్ (CC BY-SA 4.0), Smuconlaw (CC BY-SA 3.0). Wikimedia Commons.
Image credits
- Bull Temple:Smuconlaw, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0