NEW DELHI : In the Erramala hills of Andhra Pradesh’s Kurnool district, there is a temple that people don’t just visit once. The Yaganti Uma Maheswara Temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva and carved partly into rock. It is known locally for a few odd things – vultures that show up only on certain days, a cave shrine and a stone Nandi that is said to be over a thousand years old.
That last one is the reason a lot of people make the trip. The story goes that this particular Nandi is not just old but it is also getting bigger.
Why Do People Say Its Growing?
Ask anyone at the temple and they will tell you the same basic version: When the statue was first carved, there was enough room around it for a priest to walk a full circle during rituals. Now there is not. The gap between the bull and the surrounding pillars has shrunk, and locals will point to old photographs as proof that the thing has actually gotten wider.
In fact, there is also a prophecy attached to it. The story passed down says the statue will keep expanding until, someday, it grows large enough to block its own entrance. When that happens, some believe it marks the end of the current age in Hindu cosmology, the Kali Yuga.
People who study old stone monuments have a simpler explanation. Basalt and granite – the stone typically used in temples like this one – can flake, erode, or shift slightly over centuries because of humidity, temperature swings, and just years of oil, ash, and offerings being poured or rubbed on the surface during worship. What looks like “growth” could really be residue building up, or erosion changing the statue’s shape rather than adding to it.
What’s interesting is that nobody at the temple seems bothered by the scientific version of events. The priests keep doing the same rituals that they have always done. Visitors keep showing up, some out of devotion, some out of curiosity. A lot of them bring old photos on their phones just to compare the statue against what it looked like on a previous trip.
Whether the Nandi is adding mass or just wearing differently with age, the idea that something ancient right in front of you might still be changing is hard to walk away from.
