Nandi at Brihadeswara Temple, Thanjavur

Santha

Nandi also known as Nandikeshwara or Nandideva is the bull vahana of the Hindu god Shiva. He is also the guardian deity of Kailash, the abode of Shiva. Almost all Shiva temples display stone-images of a seated Nandi, generally facing the main shrine.

The Nandi at Brihadeswara Temple, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu (11th Century CE), is one of the largest in India. This massive Nandi, weighing 25 tons and measuring 19 ft long, 12 ft wide and 8 1/2 ft in height is made of single block of hard rock granite. But there is no granite quary within 100 kms of Brihadeswara Temple!!

Today a truck of 25 ton capacity would probably have 15 tyres. Just imagine 1000 years back when there was no such technology, how this massive granite block was transported to the temple site!