I am in Bangalore for the weekend and I asked various people for suggestions on places in the city to visit. One of them was the Bull Temple, a very old Hindu temple honoring one of the many Hindu deities. Seeing the stone bull itself was very spiritual. After making a small donation I was invited to run my hand over a ceremonial flame, then had my forehead marked with something I think was ground rose petals. Other visitors rubbed their hands over the bull, then ran their hands over their forehead. There was also a pitcher of water beside the bull you could drink from or sprinkle on your head, but I skipped that. The bull is at the center of a big complex, with a smaller temple, some smaller places of worship and a nice forest grove. Today was the beginning of a festival honoring the bull god, so there were a lot of people. One interesting sight was was the real live bull and it's keeper wondering around seeking contributions. If you look at the photo, the bull has a birth defect giving it a partial fifth leg. I suspect this is a valuable animal.
Via iPad