Temple Going to the Dogs

CHENNAI, India - An Indian temple famed for lifting curses has attracted an unusual congregation: stray dogs, sent in by owners who believe the ceremony will transfer their bad luck to the animal.

The temple in southern India draws worshippers seeking relief from ill fortune — a run of failed businesses, bad marriages, sick livestock. The ritual requires the cursed party to sit through the ceremony. Increasingly, priests say, the party arriving is a dog.

Locals have taken to rounding up strays, dressing them in flowers and a bit of cloth, and sending them in as proxies. The theory: the curse passes to the substitute, the family is freed, and the dog — a stray anyway — has no luck to lose.

Temple authorities are unimpressed. "The ritual is for people," one priest said. "A dog cannot be cursed, because a dog has done nothing to deserve one."

The practice has nonetheless become a minor industry. Enterprising children now rent suitable strays by the hour — docile, presentable dogs fetching the best rate — and a small market has grown up outside the gates for garlands sized to a canine neck.

The dogs, for their part, appear content: the ceremony involves sitting quietly, which stray dogs excel at, and ends with a meal, which they excel at more.

Animal welfare officers have no objection — the dogs are unharmed, often fed, and occasionally adopted by families who decide a curse-free dog is a good dog.

"It is harmless superstition on both ends," a local official shrugged. "The owners feel better, the dogs get lunch. If the curse is real, at least it has gone to someone who will sleep through it."