I love these pictures posted by Ravi Visvesvaraya Sharada Prasad in my Facebook INDog Club recently, so I asked him if I could post them here too. These are not INDogs/Indian Pariah Dogs, but ancient Himalayan livestock guarding breeds the Bhutia dog and Gaddi kutta. Thanks Ravi!
The second and third photos show a Lama with his Bhutia/Gaddi dog at the parking lot of the famous Rumtek monastery near Gangtok, Sikkim. His dog bears a strong resemblance to my females Miu and Tashi, and even some resemblance to my Doberman-Rottweiler Isha. I asked the Lama if I could pet him, but he warned me that he was too ferocious.
Dogs hold a sacred place in the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism due to their virtues of loyalty, faithfulness and unconditional love. There are several references to dogs in the Jatakas. The Buddha himself had saved a pack of stray dogs from being poisoned by a king.
If a Lama has performed a minor transgression, or has not been able to live up to the high standards expected of him, then he is reborn as a dog in his next birth. And the dog, in its next birth, is reborn as a Lama.
On a practical level, since monasteries contained a lot of gold artifacts and were prone to looting by bandits, dogs provided protection during the days of the Silk Route.
The Buddhist priests believe that the tan pips over a dog's eyes give it the power to sense danger up to three days in advance. A dog with a white patch on its chest is believed to be valorous and fearless. Dogs with these features - tan pips over the eyes and white patches on the chest and neck - are highly prized by the Lamas.
Photos and text: Ravi Visvesvaraya Sharada Prasad
Sikkim
More on chaturaksh or "four-eyed" dogs here.
The second and third photos show a Lama with his Bhutia/Gaddi dog at the parking lot of the famous Rumtek monastery near Gangtok, Sikkim. His dog bears a strong resemblance to my females Miu and Tashi, and even some resemblance to my Doberman-Rottweiler Isha. I asked the Lama if I could pet him, but he warned me that he was too ferocious.
Dogs hold a sacred place in the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism due to their virtues of loyalty, faithfulness and unconditional love. There are several references to dogs in the Jatakas. The Buddha himself had saved a pack of stray dogs from being poisoned by a king.
If a Lama has performed a minor transgression, or has not been able to live up to the high standards expected of him, then he is reborn as a dog in his next birth. And the dog, in its next birth, is reborn as a Lama.
On a practical level, since monasteries contained a lot of gold artifacts and were prone to looting by bandits, dogs provided protection during the days of the Silk Route.
The Buddhist priests believe that the tan pips over a dog's eyes give it the power to sense danger up to three days in advance. A dog with a white patch on its chest is believed to be valorous and fearless. Dogs with these features - tan pips over the eyes and white patches on the chest and neck - are highly prized by the Lamas.
Photos and text: Ravi Visvesvaraya Sharada Prasad
Sikkim
More on chaturaksh or "four-eyed" dogs here.