We visited the Krishak Ashram couple of weekends back. Learned about the importance of cows and why/how cows play a very important role in our ecosystem and in our society.
Cows play an important and unmatchable role in many segments of Indian Society.
1. Cows in Indian Household - Society/Equity
Cows have since eternity been part of Indian households. Most of the houses will have a Gau-shaala (cow-shed) mostly infront of their house.
A typical day used to start with Gau-pooja - paying respects to the Gau-matha and offering food and seeking her blessings.
It is most common in Indian house-holds even today (mostly restricted to rural areas)to apply cow-dung in front of each house. Many houses even now, have the floor laid with cow-dung to keep homes cooler.
Cow-dung as it is now scientifically proven, has high anti-bacterial properties and it protects from harmful radiations.
Cow provides milk and bi-products for the family.
2. Rituals and spiritual practices - Equity/Society
Cows are an inevitable part of any religious ritual in India. Gau with calf is looked upon as very auspicious and it is a practice to perform Gau-pooja on any occasion, especially on religious functions and spiritual practices.
In many Rituals like Yajna's, Gau-pooja / Gau-daan are considered integral for effective completion of the ritual.
3. Environment protection
Indian cows have the unique ability to absorb harmful radiations from the environment and they produce good vibrations, thus helping to cleanse the surroundings. 'Suryaketu' nerve on Cow's back absorbs all harmful radiations and cows body produces very serene energy which cleanses the environment.
Cow-dung possess very high anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties and is used in Indian households to protect from harmful bacteria and harmful radiations.
4. Cow-products as Eco-friendly Energy source - Environment/Economy
Cow -dung is an excellent energy source.
Dried cow-dung, is a good supplement for firewood. The same is a widely used for Fire rituals in Indian tradition.
Cow dung is an essential raw material in production of Bio-gas, a supplement for cooking gas. The Slurry from bio gas plant is an excellent fertilizer, which can be used to grow crops.
Through the above, cow is helping in decrease the use of firewood thus indirectly help prevent cutting down more trees.
5. Livelihood - Economy
Cow gives milk and other products, which in turn enables the owners to have a descent livelihood by selling the Cow-products
Milk - Milk is one of the staple food products.
There are many other food products which can be prepared from Milk
Butter, Ghee, Curd which are produced from milk are extensively used in Indian cuisine and is much in demand always.
All cow-products are widely used in Rituals and religious worship - for applying on statues of Dieties, for fire rituals (homa/yaaga).
6. Cow in Agrarian Society
Vast Majority of Rural Indian society are dependent on farming and related areas for their livelihood. This is referred to as an Agrarian society. Cow and Ox play a pivotal role in this kind of a society.
COW-Pivot of Indian Society - Excellent example of why and how serves as an excellent example of sustainabilty. All the three E's Environment, economy and Euity or Society benefit from having cows - read on-
Cow is an important and inevitable part of Indian culture and society and is interlinked in all walks of lives.Cows play an important and unmatchable role in many segments of Indian Society.
1. Cows in Indian Household - Society/Equity
Cows have since eternity been part of Indian households. Most of the houses will have a Gau-shaala (cow-shed) mostly infront of their house.
A typical day used to start with Gau-pooja - paying respects to the Gau-matha and offering food and seeking her blessings.
It is most common in Indian house-holds even today (mostly restricted to rural areas)to apply cow-dung in front of each house. Many houses even now, have the floor laid with cow-dung to keep homes cooler.
Cow-dung as it is now scientifically proven, has high anti-bacterial properties and it protects from harmful radiations.
Cow provides milk and bi-products for the family.
2. Rituals and spiritual practices - Equity/Society
Cows are an inevitable part of any religious ritual in India. Gau with calf is looked upon as very auspicious and it is a practice to perform Gau-pooja on any occasion, especially on religious functions and spiritual practices.
In many Rituals like Yajna's, Gau-pooja / Gau-daan are considered integral for effective completion of the ritual.
3. Environment protection
Indian cows have the unique ability to absorb harmful radiations from the environment and they produce good vibrations, thus helping to cleanse the surroundings. 'Suryaketu' nerve on Cow's back absorbs all harmful radiations and cows body produces very serene energy which cleanses the environment.
Cow-dung possess very high anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties and is used in Indian households to protect from harmful bacteria and harmful radiations.
4. Cow-products as Eco-friendly Energy source - Environment/Economy
Cow -dung is an excellent energy source.
Dried cow-dung, is a good supplement for firewood. The same is a widely used for Fire rituals in Indian tradition.
Cow dung is an essential raw material in production of Bio-gas, a supplement for cooking gas. The Slurry from bio gas plant is an excellent fertilizer, which can be used to grow crops.
Through the above, cow is helping in decrease the use of firewood thus indirectly help prevent cutting down more trees.
5. Livelihood - Economy
Cow gives milk and other products, which in turn enables the owners to have a descent livelihood by selling the Cow-products
Milk - Milk is one of the staple food products.
There are many other food products which can be prepared from Milk
Butter, Ghee, Curd which are produced from milk are extensively used in Indian cuisine and is much in demand always.
All cow-products are widely used in Rituals and religious worship - for applying on statues of Dieties, for fire rituals (homa/yaaga).
6. Cow in Agrarian Society
Vast Majority of Rural Indian society are dependent on farming and related areas for their livelihood. This is referred to as an Agrarian society. Cow and Ox play a pivotal role in this kind of a society.
- Oxen are used for ploughing the fields
- Bull/Ox-carts are widely used as mode of transport.
- Cow-dung is used as Fetrilizer for the crops and also used as Firewood suppliment.
- Cow-urine and Panchagavya used as highly effective and efficient fertilizers.
- Cow dung is used as Energy source - Bio-gas prepared from cow-dung, Dried cow-dung are used for cooking purposes.
- Cow dung is also used to decrease the acidity of soil and also in water. Crops grown using only Cow-products (Organic fertilizers) are much in demand, and fetch very good/better price for farmers compared to crops grown using chemicals.
All the above substantiate the claim that Cow plays a pivotal role in Indian society and also helps provide Economical stability and financial independence to our society.
Great reminder of why cows are so important to the society. I wish they received the same respect even today.
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