Dog

In general, the dog is considered an
extremely unclean and impure animal.
Today, keeping dogs as pets in India
is a practice that is gaining favor.
Traditionally, however, Indian dogs
roamed the streets as scavengers, eating
whatever they could find, including
each other. Such promiscuous eating
habits render them ritually impure, even
aside from the vermin and disease that
they often harbor, particularly rabies.
Aside from their practical importance as
scavengers, the dog is also the animal
vehicle of Bhairava, a wrathful form of
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Dog
Bright, spinning lights decorate homes and streets during the festival of Diwali.
According to Hindu tradition, these lights welcome Lakshmi, a goddess who embodies good fortune.
the god Shiva. Bhairava’s symbolic association with an unclean animal clearly
shows his marginal status in the
pantheon—he is powerful, but also
feared, because he is not bound by
normal rules.