The Holy Cow !
I have always wondered why the cow is considered sacred in India. In my quest to find the reason, I came across many funny stories on the internet and eventually found that the answer was as simple as “Cow gives us milk, that’s why!” , something that I have been teaching Akshara from day 1.
In south India, the third day of the Pongal celebrations is called “Maatu pongal” when cows are decorated and worshipped. Well, Rajaram would not buy me a real cow and hence I settled with decorating a terracota cow cart with beautiful colours. This work of mine is a dedication to the cutest and selfless herbivore on earth, “the holy cow” 🙂
This terracota thing is such a beauty. I had picked this on my recent chennai trip and unfortunately it didn’t reach in one-piece 🙁
Regd the holy cow …from my knowledge it is very simple reason …when something is useful to the community, our ancestors gave it a “holy” tag to avoid exploitation/misuse of it.
Cow gives milk which is daily essential. The dung was used as manure in farms. The dung cakes used as fuel. Cow urine was considered a disinfectant and perhaps has various other benefits. I am sure there is more to usefulness of ‘holy’ cow 🙂
Anu, Cow gives us milk, Milk gives us ghee, Ghee is used in homams, Homam is done to get rid of bad things in life and attain holiness . So, logically cow becomes holy 🙂