Cat Shrine Top

The furry new deity, however, forgot about a couple of small yet important details.

Worshippers were surprised to encounter a new addition to their local shrine recently, when they stumbled upon a happily snoozing kitten sprawled out in front of a sacred wooden building on the grounds. Lying in front of the small shrine was a pretty clever trick on the cat’s part, as this is where visitors face when expressing gratitude and praying with their heads bowed and hands clasped together.

▼ The cheeky kitten prepares to live out every cat’s dream by having humans bow down before him, worshipping him as a furry god.

Sleeping cat

However, the tabby seems to have forgotten two important steps involved in the prayerful process that precedes the respectful bows. One is the fact that visitors begin by throwing a coin into the offertory box.

▼ By sprawling out all over the top of the wooden offertory box, nobody will be getting any money in today!

Sleeping Cat 2

While getting in the way of money offerings, the cat is also forgetting step two in the Japanese prayer manual: the ringing of the bell. Hanging beneath the roof, visitors shake the attached thick rope to ring the bell and call the god into the shrine. That’s something a sleeping kitty won’t be happy with!

Since the pictures of the cat on the money box were posted on Twitter, they’ve been liked 68,000 times and retweeted more than 57,000 times.

https://twitter.com/kitbio/status/748407045410283521

Users have been leaving comments like:

“Everyone must bow down and worship the cat god.”
“The god has truly descended!”
“I love cats and shrines so these photos are just too much!”
“I think the cat is offering up itself to the gods as an honorary tribute”
“Instead of money, cat food and snacks need to be offered at this shrine!”

While this kitty was left to lie quietly enjoying his dreams, with so many holy places dedicated to feline worship, he might want to consider relocating to one of Japan’s many “cat temples” for a truer sense of human devotion!

Source: Hamusoku
Images: Twitter/@kitbio