Holy Cow: A Primer

Cow in blue garbage can eating a paper plate

I’m obsessed with Holy Cows. I cannot imagine India without holy cows in the picture. They are everywhere; highways, streets, alleyways, railway tracks, pedestrian walkways, shopping areas, beaches, weddings, funerals, countryside and densely populated cities. What’s their story?

What is a Cow?

Grey cow walking down the street in New Delhi

Although cows are often used as a blanket term for the bovine species, to be accurate, cows are female. Male cattle are steers or bulls. India has both cattle and buffalo. Buffalo are a totally different type of bovine. Buffalo are dark coloured with a larger physique and most have horns like cattle.

What’s so Special about a Cow?

White cow with black spots, black nose and horns tethered with a rope and post

Cows are considered sacred by Hindus and about 80% of India’s population is Hindu. One of the core concepts of Hinduism is ahimsa which is non-violence towards all beings which includes animals; a soul is present in all living beings.

Hindus consider the cow a symbol of wealth, strength and abundance. She is seen as a caregiver and maternal figure and is respected for her gentle nature and strength.

India, by far, is the country with the largest number of vegetarians. Most people (more than 80%) in India do not eat beef, even if they do eat other meats.

History

Surprisingly, ancient Hindus ate beef. Cow with big horns on the street in Jaisalmer, India It was only around 500AD when cows become sacred. This coincided with India’s boom in agriculture when cows and bulls were important for farming. The cow became a symbol of wealth. In ancient times, the royal families gave Brahmins (a caste of priests/teachers). Cows as gifts in exchange for performing religious ceremonies.

Cows in Mythology and Religion

Cow lying on sand with birds around and sitting on her

According to the oldest Hindi scriptures, the goddess Kamadhenu is the mother of all cows, the cow of plenty. She can provide the true seeker with whatever they seek as can her daughter Nandini. Cows are considered the earthly embodiment of Kamadhenu. In other Hindu texts, Prithvi (aka Bhumi), an earth goddess, was in the form of a cow. Prithu (an incarnation of Vishnu) milked her to allow crops to flourish and to end famine. Lord Krishna was a cowherd in his youth and the cow is his favourite animal.

Popular Pee

Tan coloured cow with horns lying on a beach with row boats and an ancient city in the background

Cows supply many things. Besides milk, curd and butter (ghee), which are very important in Indian cuisine, cow urine has many uses in India. Urine is used as a medicine, to increase the nitrogen content in soil, a disinfectant and a pesticide for fodder crops. It was recently suggested by an Indian MP that it could be used against the coronavirus…however there is no scientific evidence behind this statement. There is an alcohol free hand sanitizer made by Cowpathy from distilled cow urine.

That’s Some Good Crap!

Cow poop, which is mostly made up of undigested two patties of cow poop on the road plant matter and whatever else the cow found to eat, has many uses. It’s often molded into patties, dried and used to fuel fires. Cow dung can also be collected and used to make bio-gas which is rich in methane and in some rural areas provides a renewable source of energy.

Cow Celebrations

Cow with worshipers at Arti Ceremony

Cows in India are worshipped and decorated with paint, cloths and garlands during festivals. Govatsa Dwadashi (the first day of Diwali), Mattupongal and Gopastami are just a few festivals where cows are honoured. For some housewarming celebrations, milk is boiled on the stove or a cow is lead through the house.

Cows and the Law

Man and cow standing under an awning in front of a store

Laws relating to cows and their slaughter or accidental demise are different in the various Indian states. In some states, the slaughtering of a cow has various punishments ranging from minimal fines to five years in prison. In some parts of India, even accidental cow deaths (car accidents etc.) can have consequences…and not just for the cow.

Survival and Life on the Streets

Group of brown and black cows eating green leafy stalks

While some cows are tethered or kept at home, larger numbers, both owned and stray, wander freely. Some people leave food outside in pots and the cows wander from one house to another, grabbing some chow. In some places, both locals and tourists buy stalks of greens from street vendors to feed the cows. It is very common to see cows digging through garbage cans or gathering at garbage heaps.

What Happens When they get Old or Sick?

White cow with horns and grey calf in the street amongst motorcycles and pedestrians
There are over 3,000 institutions in India called Gaushalas that care for old and infirmed cows. In reality, most are very full. In some very sad cases, when a cow can no longer supply milk, families that cannot afford to keep them will put them out onto the streets to fend for themselves. In extreme cases, since it is illegal to kill them, people will tie them up and withhold food until they die.

What Happens When a Cow Dies?

dead cow lying on a sand spit in the water with birds flying around it

Although technically outlawed, Indian society still has a strong caste system which is almost like a social class system. At the bottom of the castes are the untouchables. When a cow dies, officially it’s meat is not to be eaten. Since higher castes consider the carcass as polluted, they will not touch it. Instead they will get a person from the caste of untouchables to take it away. These people skin and tan the leather or sell the skin to a leather factory and leave the rest of the body to be eaten by birds. Some untouchables cook and eat the meat.

Cows at Funerals

Cow standing bedside cremation fire

It is a positive thing to have a cow at a cremation. People will have food at the cremation site to attract the cows. In Varanasi where cremations occur on the banks of the Ganges River, cows eat contentedly within a few feet of a burning funeral pyre.

Cows Gone Bad

Cow with his head in the garbage can at Elephanta Island India Although cows look gentle, they are still very large and unpredictable animals that can be threatened, startled or angered by people. Caution and space needs to be given to these bovines. Tourists trying to get a selfie with a cow have been injured and even gored. Respect the cows space.

Dark Side of India’s Cows

Cow sniffing garbage cans on a beach in India
As many as six million cows roam freely on roads in India and this number is rising. In less than a year over 7,000 cows were reported as dying on railway tracks in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Car accidents causing injury and death to both cows and people is a constant reality. To reduce accidents, a few states have tried making cows more visible at night by attaching reflective straps.

Not surprisingly, India is the world’s largest milk producer. Ironically, India is also the world’s second largest supplier of beef. Supposedly this meat is just from buffalo however in an article in “The Atlantic” by science and culture journalist, Sena Desai Gopal, it is claimed that almost 2 million cows a year are smuggled across the poorly patrolled border into Bangladesh for slaughter. The same article states that although there are 3,600 legal slaughterhouses, there may be as many as 30,000 illegal slaughterhouses.

Holy Cows are also a source of political tension as to whether cows can be used for food in a country with over a billion people to feed. People are divided on this issue. In some cases mobs have killed people for allegedly eating beef or slaughtering their cattle.

cow and people in a narrow alley

All issues aside, as a tourist, I love seeing the integration of cows into everyday life. It is one small part of what makes India a place like no other. I look forward to returning to explore more of this country so rich in culture, history and tradition.