At our temple in Bhadrak, Lord Jagannatha has always been very kind towards the animals that come under his shelter. Again and again we have seen many miracles He has performed for various animals, sometimes bulls, sometimes dogs, and sometimes cats. There are many animals under His care and protection here, 8 bulls, 15 cats, and 13 dogs of His own, plus a lot of other street animals that pass through day to day.

Sometimes the miracles are very big and amazing, and sometimes they are small things people may consider a coincidence. Yesterday He perfomed a small miracle but it meant a lot to us. This is the story of how Lord Jagannatha amazingly brought us back the body of one of his small cats who had passed away, so we could know her fate and perform a proper burial for her.

This cat’s name was Cheetah, and she was the tiniest cat we had ever seen. Her mother was small, and therefore named “Itsy Bitsy”, but then when she had a baby, the baby was even tinier. This baby had an interesting spotted pattern so we gave her the name Cheetah. She was born in 2021, and lived in a shed in the temple garden which we called “the cat house”. A number of other temple born cats also lived in that shed along with her.

A little over a year ago we had taken in some injured and sick street puppies, and they took over her cat house. As they grew bigger she no longer felt safe there, and came to live in my room. So for the last year she has been living in my room. With 15 cats, we have different cats living in different corners of the property, but this one decided to live in my room.

About 7 days ago she decided to leave my room and go live on top of the temple ratha (chariot). She would climb to the very top of the dome of the ratha and sit and sleep up there. I didn’t think much of it.

After I few days I decided to check on her, and I noticed she had stopped eating and had become a bit thin, I could start to feel her bones. She was already very tiny and thin, but now I could feel the outlines of her bones. I carried her back up to my room and gave her some food which she ate, and then immediately she ran back outside to the Ratha and climbed on top. I didn’t want to force her, so I left her there deciding I would check on her the next day and bring her some food there to make sure she ate properly.

Cheetah on the right, with her mother “Itsy Bitsy” on the left.

The next day I went to see her, and she looked very weak, just sleeping on top of the dome. We climbed up and she would softly respond when we called her, but she wouldn’t stand up. I tried to feed her, but she had no interest in eating. I still didn’t think it would be that serious, so I gave her some medicine by syringe in her mouth, and thought to come back in the morning to give a second dose.

The next morning we couldn’t find her anywhere. Me and my friend Butu spent the next three days looking everywhere for her. We climbed on top of tin roofs, we looked under cars, we went outside to look in the sewage channels, we couldn’t find any sign of her. Each day, morning and evening, we would go through the same routine searching every possible corner where she may be hiding, but with no luck.

As the days went on I began realizing she may have passed away or is about to pass away. I regretted not taking her up to my room when I had the chance. With so many animals someone is always getting sick and you never know which are serious and which are just small passing things.

On the third day with no sign of her I realized she probably had passed away. I prayed to Lord Jagannatha to please take care of her soul and engage her in His devotional service where ever she may be. I had taken care of her for 5 years, but now in the end I would have no idea what happened to her. I prayed to Lord Jagannatha to help us find her so we could properly burry her and have closure about her fate. All these animals are like our own children and we feel sad when they pass away, more so when we don’t know what finally happened.

That morning it started raining extremely heavily for several hours. Within a short time our entire land became flooded in 6 to 10 inches of water, up to the temple steps, which are a little higher then the rest of the land and normally remain dry. The rain stopped, and I went out again to search for Cheetah one last time. I went through all the possible areas, checking every corner and every spot a cat could be hiding. I waded through the flood waters on all sides, checked outside in the road and the sewage lines, still no sign of her. I gave up and walked past the temple steps on my way to go feed the other dogs inside the garden, still no sign of her anywhere.

Just 30 seconds later, before I could even start feeding the dogs, my wife called me from the temple and said, “Come, Cheetah’s body is here.” I walk back the same path I had just been walking on 30 seconds before, and right in front of the temple steps, just two feet away from the temple entrance, in the middle of the path to the temple, her body was perfectly floating. I had walked that exact spot three times in the last few minutes and there was no sign of her anywhere, neither was there any strong current in the water that could have pulled her there. The water was 10 inches deep, but on all sides there was fencing and no outside place she could have floated from. Everything defied logic.

Location where Cheetah’s body was found floating in front of the temple steps.

I picked up her body, and based on a slight smell I could tell she had likely passed away the prior night. She was in a sleeping position, probably having passed away from the fever in her sleep. I have no idea how her body could have floated from some hidden place straight to the temple steps. We had searched every corner for three days straight, and had even walked in that exact spot just 30 seconds prior without her body being present. After finding her body, the flood waters rapidly lowered and were completely gone within 2 hours. Bhagavan brought a temporary flood just to bring her body to the steps of the temple so we could burry her and have closure knowing her fate.

30 seconds before I walked the blue path to enter the garden with no sign of her body. When I came back out she was floating perfectly like a boat in front of the temple steps.

We dug a small pit in the temple garden, something we have had to do many times now, and covered her body in flowers and tulasi prasadam from Lord Jagannatha, as well as charanamrita from the morning abhisheka, and gave her a suitable final burial. It may be only a small miracle, after all she didn’t survive, but for us it meant a lot to know what happened to her and to see her body. We had taken care of her for 5 years, and to not know what happened would have been very painful.

Every cow and calf at our sanctuary has a story of rescue, healing, and hope. Your generous support provides them with food, shelter, medical care, and a lifetime of protection. Together, we can give these sacred animals the love and safety they deserve.