It has been a dog's life here for 300 years, & they love it.
How the judgment of a king becomes
the rule for three centuries by the priest of the Khanpur main temple in Punjab is a worst example of wasting time and money. The episode started during the period between1695 and 1765, when the founder of the Patiala dynasty, Maharaja Alaa Singh, found a female dog that consumed 65 kilos of opium and remained as steady as before consuming this stuff. He was puzzled as well as impressed beyond imagination, and concluded to bestow a befitting honor to the dog community.
In the
process, the dog got the ownership of 150 bigha land and the privilege of being fed the first bhog (Food Offering) of the main temple in Khanpur before being served to others. Alaa Singh’s order became a rule, and the villagers there have immortalized the diktat by stones there.
It would be appropriate to mention that the
present scion of the Patiala royal family is the ex-congress chief minister of Punjab Captain Amrinder Singh.
The present head priest Anand Giri follows the rule in a way that looks a bit awkward. He, after bhog has been offered to the gods, comes out of the temple to the gate of the premises. He then barks like dogs to activate call to the dogs in the surroundings, and within no time, dogs gather there for their royal treat of meals everyday. The main priest of the temple repeats this process three times each day.
The faith of honoring dogs has embossed in the minds of villagers deeply, and it is difficult to make them think otherwise. They too support the idea of best treatment to dogs along with the priests of the temple. Even dogs are spared on biting children with the excuse of its revered status in the locality.
For many generations, what was going on with significance has lessened its value to some extent due to the young modern generation’s prudent view on the matter. They feel embarrassed in front of the outsiders, when the priest howls like dogs for calling them to get honor through food.