Tweet

Share

NOTE FROM JONAH: This is the continuation of a photo series from India. If you’re just joining us, here’s what you’ve missed:

1. I’m not alone here
2. People ‘like’ my diarrhea
3. Dancing In(dia) the Streets
4. Indian trains: Contemptibly cozy, crammed and claustrophobic
5. Feeding a City Part II: From Macro to Micro
6. Confusing realities of child labor
7. Enlightined in Bodh Gaya बोधगया
8. Kathmandu — You’ve met your match: Varanasi वाराणसी
9. Varanasi वाराणसी: Full Photographic Spectrum
10. From sea to sand: Welcome to Rajasthan
11. Holy cow!

Please excuse my second pun in this photo series — but after weeks of travel in India, the integration of cows into general society has become is just far too interesting to not comment on.

To put it bluntly: There are cows everywhere. In the streets. In houses. In alleys. In waterways. In stores. On highways, squares and parks. In fact, the only place you won’t find cows — is on your plate. However, none of the Indians seem to even notice as denoted in the 10 minute timelapsed 30 second video above. And there’s certainly no better way to evaluate cows in India, by accompanying it with some circus music. As the cow hangs out in this market in Jodhpur, people go about there business circumnavigating the cows. Kids play, cars drive, vendors sell their goods — but the cow is almost invisible to them.

Cows wander the alleys freely as do a number of dogs, chickens, donkeys and your occasional camel. However the cows certainly dominate the population and physical space they take up. This integration of cows in urban society is different than seeing some stray dogs (which there are plenty of as well) in Southeast Asia. Mostly, because they seem to be of the ‘enormous variety’ of cow. Enormous beasts are cruising around like they own the place. As an outsider its very confusing.

At first I wondered if they were “stray cows” or if their owners were watching.

One Indian man told me the cows all belong to people. In the morning they are let out to find water and food and they will return at night. This seems amazing to me — especially given the confusing architectural layout of some Indian towns like Varanasi. Still, I’m confused though why the cow would return if its owners weren’t feeding it. To my knowledge, this is why animals will come home.

This example, also gives you an idea of how “public” a restroom is in India as a cow watches over the urinals.

While I continued to get lost in the never ending series of alleys in Varanasi, the cows can all wander to the Ganges and back through the alleys to the owners home, unaccompanied without trouble.

So while the cows seem to be relatively smart compared to those cows in my home state of Vermont — they do play a significant role in Indian culture. Indian Culture Q&A gives four reasons why cows are sacred in India.

(1) Indians consume milk on a daily basis, and the cow as a provider of milk, is equated to one’s mother (hence the expression Gomäta = mother cow)

(2) Traditionally, Indians had cows in every household. They were part of the family, with names and personalities. Just like one would not hurt/eat their pets, the Indians did not hurt the cows and respected them.

(3) The cow has a special role in the Hindu mythologies; Kamadhenu is a wish-fulfilling cow. A cow is also depicted as vehicle of several deities.

(4) Many social reform movements in India (Jainism, Buddhism, the Bhakti Movement, Gandhi’s non-violent movement) advocated non-violence, and no cruelty to animals. So in India, other animals also (like elephants, mice, monkeys) are considered holy.