17/ 100 Orange Sari Dog

There is a dog there, honest. You just have to look for it carefully.

Away from the centre of the old Jodhpur market square, in a particularly dirty corner by the 18th century Gulab Sagar manmade lake, was a large tree. Once you had clambered over the building rubble and a few dead rats you could finally find an open area, floored with little hexagonal concrete tiles. Standing under that tree were some cows (and a dog with a bad itch).

The cattle were here because of the tree. Not because of the shade it offered, although that would no doubt be a welcome blessing in the summer, but because, like so many others, the tree was considered sacred. The cows were there because they are sacred too and are known as Gau Mata or Mother Cow. The dog was there because there was a good chance of blagging some food.

When people come and make a blessing at the tree, a banyan, they leave a pot of water and a picture of whichever of the many deities they worship. Hinduism teaches that nature is divine. Some people believe that offering water to a tree nourishes both the tree and unseen spiritual entities residing within. It is strictly forbidden to cut down or damage many of the trees in Indian towns, which is perhaps why so many of them are growing chaotically in weird places.

If you want to get some extra blessings you can feed the cows too. Fresh peas and alfalfa are bought in from the countryside where they are sold to religious devotees. They, in turn, create some good karma by feeding it to the cows.

These cows, apparently, do actually belong to someone who is no doubt delighted that his livestock get fed for free and he can also sell the milk back to the people too. It’s a win-win for the farmer.