Nandi is the sacred bull of Hindu myth — the divine bull-mount (vahana) and devoted gatekeeper of the great god Shiva, the foremost of Shiva's devotees, whose image, a great seated bull gazing eternally at the deity, sits before every Shiva temple. The bull of Shiva, Nandi is the devoted mount and gatekeeper of the great god, the eternal worshipful guardian at the temple door.
The Bull of Shiva
Nandi (Sanskrit Nandī, “the joyful, the happy one”) is the sacred bull who is the mount (vahana), gatekeeper and chief devotee of Shiva. He is depicted as a great, powerful, usually white bull, often shown seated or reclining and gazing devotedly toward Shiva (or toward the Shiva-shrine). He is the bull upon whom Shiva rides, the guardian who keeps the gate of Shiva's abode (Mount Kailash) and his temples, and the foremost and most devoted of all Shiva's devotees and attendants (the ganas). Nandi is a beloved and important figure, inseparable from the worship of Shiva.
The Gatekeeper and Chief Devotee
Nandi is the gatekeeper and the foremost devotee of Shiva. As gatekeeper, he guards the entrance to Shiva's abode and presence, controlling access to the great god. As the chief devotee, he is the model of perfect devotion to Shiva — utterly devoted, ever-attentive, gazing eternally at his lord in worshipful love. His devotion is so complete that he is the very image of the ideal devotee. In the temples of Shiva, the great image of Nandi the bull sits before the shrine, facing the deity, gazing eternally at Shiva — the devoted mount and worshipper forever turned toward his lord. Worshippers, on entering, often touch or honour Nandi, the foremost devotee and the guardian of the god's presence.
The Symbol of Strength, Virtue and Devotion
Nandi the bull embodies strength, power, virtue (dharma), and devotion. The bull is a symbol of strength and power, of virility and fertility, and (as the bull of Shiva) of dharma and righteousness (the bull is sometimes said to represent dharma standing on its four legs). Above all, Nandi embodies bhakti — devotion — the perfect, loving, faithful devotion of the devotee to the divine, eternally gazing at his lord. He is honoured as the noble, strong, virtuous and supremely devoted bull of Shiva, the model of devotion and the guardian of the god, and he is worshipped in his own right at the great Nandi-shrines and before every Shiva temple.
The Devoted Bull of the Great God
Nandi endures as the sacred bull of Hindu myth — the divine bull-mount and devoted gatekeeper of Shiva, the foremost of his devotees, whose image sits gazing eternally before every Shiva temple. He embodies strength, virtue, and above all the perfect devotion of the devotee to the divine, ever-faithful and ever-attentive; and he stands as the bull of Shiva — the devoted mount and gatekeeper of the great god, the model of loving devotion, the great white bull who gazes eternally, worshipfully, at his beloved lord.
The great white bull of Shiva, his devoted mount and gatekeeper — the foremost of devotees who sits gazing eternally, worshipfully, at his lord before every Shiva temple.