Bhairav the Faithful Dog

At the great gate of Ayodhya lived a dog named Bhairav. He had a brown and white coat and soft floppy ears. Bhairav had no house of his own. But every evening, he sat by the gate and watched the road. "The gate is my home," he seemed to say, "and the city is my family."

One day, the whole city was busy. "We are waiting for Rama to come home," everyone said. People ran this way and that with flowers and lamps. Bhairav trotted along beside them, wagging his tail. Nobody had time to pat him. But Bhairav did not mind. He was happy too.

As the sun went down, the people went inside to cook sweets and dress in their best clothes. The road grew quiet. The night grew dark, with no moon at all. But Bhairav did not go to sleep. He sat by the gate, ears up, watching the long dark road.

In the dark, a little lamb wandered away from its flock. "Baa," it cried. "Baa." Bhairav heard it. He ran into the night, found the little lamb, and gently walked it back, step by step, along the lamp-lit path. Then he sat down by the gate again, and kept on watching.

Just before morning, Bhairav's ears twitched. Footsteps! "Woof! Woof!" he barked, wagging his tail so hard his whole body wiggled. The children came to the gate with flowers. "You watched over the gate while we waited for Rama," they said. "Thank you, faithful friend." Rama had not come home yet. Bhairav kept watching the road.

The children put a bright marigold garland around Bhairav's neck, and a little red tika on his forehead. They gave him a lovely meal. Bhairav's adventure is an imagined story. In Nepal, families honour dogs with garlands, tika and food on Kukur Tihar. It is a day to thank these faithful friends.