A calf with three eyes and four nostrils was recently born on a farm in Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh, India, but far from finding it annoying or repulsive, locals queue up to visit what they consider to be a sacred animal.
The farmer who owns the animal, named Neeraj Chandel, says many believe it to be the Hindu god Shiva, also known as the Lord of Cattle, leading to long queues of people wanting to worship him.
“When the cow gave birth, we thought it was a kind of wound on the forehead, before discovering that it was an eye with the help of a flashlight,” says the farmer.
The calf moves normally and drinks milk from the mother’s udder without difficulty and it seems that the third eye is functional or at least it opens and closes like the other two.
In any case, the locals believe that the birth of the animal will bring good luck and prosperity to the villagers, and many come to the place with gifts such as coconuts and flowers.