The Lord Shiva Nandi idol beautifully carved in natural Bluestone gemstone. An adherent devotee of Lord Shiva, Nandi bull is believed to be transporter of devotee's prayer to Lord Shiva.
Nandi, bull is the vahana (vehicle) of Lord Shiva. Every Shaivite temple has the figure of a white, humped bull reclining on a raised platform and facing the entrance door of the shrine so that, according to tradition, he may perpetually gaze on the lord in his symbolic form, the lingam. Nandi is considered to be one of Shiva’s chief attendants and occasionally is depicted in sculpture as a bull-faced dwarf figure.
During the churning of the ocean when poison (halahala) came out everybody ran away except Lord Siva, followed by Nandi, came forward to help as He was the only one who could counteract this deadly poison. Shiva took the poison into his hand and drank it, the descent of the poison was in turn stopped at His throat, by His divine consort. Shiva is therefore also known as Nilakantha (the blue-throated one). Nandi saw some of the poison spill out of Siva's mouth and immediately drank it off the ground. The devas and asuras watching were shocked and wondered aloud what would happen to Nandi. Lord Siva calmed their fears saying, "Nandi has surrendered into me so completely that he has all my powers and my protection".
Dimensions: 1.5 inches (H) x 1 inches (W) x 1.8 inches (L) (4 x 2.5 x 4.5 cm) approx
Weight: 60 grams