Arriving in India after 22 hour flight is always disorientating but I find myself in a taxi from Bhubaneswar airport, 2 o’clock in the morning, talking to the driver about World Hockey Championships, Cricket and PM Modi. The streets are empty and only the dogs, guarding their territories, at crossroads and lit-up junctions appear from out of the thick fog. It will take over an hour to drive to Puri but I cannot make out much of the countryside, so I enjoy the conversation and keep an eye for the Odisha dogs.
I arrive at MAT Artist accommodation around 3 o’clock having already established the state is a favourite of Modi’s with a nationalist cleaning agenda – to keep the sites and beaches clean. In the morning I’m made aware that foreigners (non-Hindus) are not welcome in the temples and sacred sites. The small cavern temple tucked in behind the MAT building is out of bounds but we can watch activities from above. Occasionally kids can be seen circling the outside, grappling along the walls as a dare or entertainment. Thankfully when I arrive in the early hours our host Basan is up to let me in to the room. Tomorrow we start a tour of the historic and heritage artisan villages that surround Puri. Looking forward to sleeping…
In this dream – entering Jagarnarth Temple, guided by a pilgrim map and spirit of Diogenes we find ourselves stooping in front of the Dog shrine, a hidden sanctuary to one side of the main temple complex. No one stops here, and there are no elaborate offerings or dressed effigies or statues, just a kind of silence from all the hubhub and shoving. The sounds of the car horns, the hoot of the trains, the cries of hawkers and general agitation of traffic has dissolved. We are with the dogs, sniffing the air, sensing another place. From the ground up we prowl and prance, transforming the space with our lightfootedness.
