Kukur Dev - Incredible God In Incredible India

Kukur Dev Temple

            Who loves dog? I think the answer is almost every one. I am quite sure who is reading this blog now, is also a dog lover. India is incredible. Anything is possible in India. Even having a dog temple is possible in India. You are thinking, "a temple of dog? Is it possible to have a temple of dog?  It is weird". But I say it is possible only in India. Today I am taking you to a place of India where you can find a dog temple, where dogs are worshiped by people. So come with me.

Entrance Of Kukur Dev Temple

               Kukur means dog and dev means God, so Kukur Dev means a Dog God. In Khapri village, Durg district, Chhattisgarh there is an old temple which is dedicated to dog. The name of the God of this temple is Kukur Dev. According to the myths dogs never bite the people whoever visits this temple.

Location Of Chhattisgarh

Map Of Chhattisgarh

               The temple is situated in 200 meter area. There are two big idols of dog at both side of the front gate of the temple. The temple also has a Shiva Linga. Dog is worshipped in this temple like Nandi in other Shiva temples. Fani Nagbangshi rulers constructed this temple between 14 AD-15 AD.

Dog Statue In front of The Temple

               There are various pictures of snakes in the temple. Other than that many inscriptions are found in this temple. But the writing of the inscriptions have been faded. Though we can find some symbols on them like sun, moon, stars and gypsy. A two feet Ganesha idol and idols of Ram, Sita and Shatrughna also present in this temple.

Kukur Dev Idol

              Those people came to this temple who have been bitten by dogs. They believe that they will cure after visiting this temple. Some people enter the temple out of curiosity.

Shiva Linga Of Kukur Dev Temple

                 Some local legends are also famous about this temple. According to the legend there was a Banjara (gypsy) who had a dog. Once the place was affected by famine. The gypsy needed money. But he had no money. Finding no other way, he decided to borrow some money by giving his dog to a local money lender.One day a thief entered the money lender's house and stole his valuable goods. The dog noticed it and followed the thief to the place where he used to hide the stolen goods.

              Next day when the money lender found out about the stealing, he became very much upset. The dog dragged him to the place where the thief had hidden his possessions. The money lender retrieved his stolen goods. The money lender became very happy and thought the dog to be a incarnation of God. The money lender wrote a letter to the gypsy showing his gratitude and liberated him from debts.

            He tied this letter to the dog's neck and sent it to the Banjara. When the Banjara saw the dog he thought that the dog had eloped from the money lender's house. He started beating the dog with a stick without thinking anything. The dog died. After the death of the dog, Banjara found the letter tied to the neck of the dog. He realized his mistake. In sorrow and remorse he built a temple in the memory of the dog and named it Kukur Samadhi (tomb of the dog).

Visitors Making Wish 

                 Actually it was a Shiva temple and dogs are closely associated with Shiva. This temple is reputated as Rinmukteswar (liberated from debts) and famous guru Adi Shankaracharya was liberated from debts by coming to the temple.

Information Board Of The Temple

                A dog's attachment to its master is a symbol of bandage. A dog loves his master and always try to repay the master. A dog is loyal to it's master and always protect them. So dog is shown as a philosophic symbol of life.
         

An Indian Street Dog 

       

                   People who are dog lover can visit this place and the people who are afraid of dog can olso visit the temple because it said that dogs never bite them who visit this temple.