For countless centuries cattle have been the most essential animals in India. Bullocks served as draft animals and chronically inadequate food supplies made cows' milk a basic food. Their droppings have long been the only fuel in most Indian households, because of a perennial shortage of wood.
To the Hindu, veneration of the cow is an inseparable part of life, rooted in deep tradition. Yet cows are not truly sacred; the Hindu religion merely prohibits killing them. They also represent the pastoral life, which is considered idyllic. The god Krishna, creator of the universe, grew up among cattle and cowherds, and the story of his childhood with them is a favorite Hindu tale (pages 123-133). To Hindus the bull, rather than the cow, was sacred. Symbols of procreation since prehistoric times, bulls were also associated with the god Shiva, and were carved at his temples.
A DOCILE HERD of COWS and nursing calves is depicted on a cotton wall-hanging. Entitled the "Paradise of Krishna," the scene represents a traditional Indian conception of pastoral peace.
A MONUMENTAL BULL (above) was carved in the Third Century B. C. It stood on a column built by Emperor Ashoka, which was inscribed with Buddhist edicts.
A HUMPED BULL, surrounded by peacocks, is shown on a decorative Mughal plate (at right). Although Muslims did not accept the symbolic meaning of cattle, they used them as artistic motifs.
World History
