Is it true that some Indians worship "Cow"? Why? How? Just wondering!?

Answer 1

Cow Worship
Though the cow is held sacred to the Hindus, it is not exactly worshipped as a deity by all. On the 12th day of the 12th month of the Hindu calendar, a cow ritual is performed in Jodhpur palace.

Bull Temples
Nandi Bull, the vehicle of Lord Shiva is considered the symbol of respect for all male cattle. The Nandi Bull holy site at Madurai and the Shiva temple at Mahabalipuram are the most venerated bovine shrines. Even non-Hindus are allowed to enter the the 16th century Bull Temple in Bangalore. The Vishwanath Temple of Jhansi, believed to have been built in 1002, also has a large statue of the Nandi Bull.

History
The cow was venerated as the mother goddess in the early Mediterranean civilizations. The cow became important in India, first in the Vedic period (1500 - 900 BCE), but only as a symbol of wealth. For the Vedic man cows were 'the "real life" substratum of the goods of life', writes JC Heesterman in The Encyclopedia Of Religion, vol. 5.

Symbol of Sacrifice
Cows form the core of religious sacrifices, for without ghee or butter, which is produced from cow's milk, no sacrifice can be performed.

In the Mahabharata, we have Bhishma saying: "Cows represent sacrifice. Without them, there can be no sacrifice…Cows are guileless in their behaviour and from them flow sacrifices…and milk and curds and butter. Hence cows are sacred..."

Bhishma also observes that the cow acts as a surrogate mother by providing milk to human beings for the whole life. So the cow is truly the mother of the world.

Answer 2

Although Hindus respect and honor the cow, they do not worship them in the same sense in which they worship God. Hindus considers all living things to be sacred, an attitude reflected in reverence for the cow.

In Hinduism, the cow is seen as a generous, ever-giving source, which takes nothing but that which is necessary for its own sustenance in return. Hindus treat the cow with the same respect accorded to the mother, as the cow is a vital sustainer of life, providing milk & dairy products (like butter used for rituals & consumption purpose) and a means of ploughing the earth to grow crops. The cow received such status as a result of the historical need of early agrarian Hindu civilization.
The cow thus represents Hindu values of selfless service, strength, dignity, and non-violence. For this reason, although not all Hindus are vegetarian, they traditionally abstain from eating beef.

Answer 3

Hindu's worship cow's because its scared for them. The symbolic status cows hold are, roughly similar to white doves for peace, but much more deeper and religious. We might not see cows as something much, but its touched off rebellions in the East India Company. Animal grease used to cover the cartridges for the muskets lead to the Indians rebelling against the British.

Answer 4

What arun_vn says is right, also because every living creature is a son of the Supreme Lord, and He does not tolerate even an ant's being killed. One has to pay for it. So indulgence in animal killing for the taste of the tongue is the grossest kind of ignorance. A human being has no need to kill animals, because God has supplied so many nice things. If one indulges in meat-eating anyway, it is to be understood that he is acting in ignorance and is making his future very dark. Of all kinds of animal killing, the killing of cows is most vicious because the cow gives us all kinds of pleasure by supplying milk. Cow slaughter is an act of the grossest type of ignorance. In the Vedic literature (Rg Veda 9.46.4) the words gobhiù préëita-matsaram indicate that one who, being fully satisfied by milk, is desirous of killing the cow is in the grossest ignorance. There is also a prayer in the Vedic literature that states:
namo brahmanya-deväya
go-brähmana-hitäya ca
jagad-dhitäya krishnaya
govindäya namo namah
"My Lord, You are the well-wisher of the cows and the brähmanas, and You are the well-wisher of the entire human society and world." (Vishnu Puräna 1.19.65) The purport is that special mention is given in that prayer for the protection of the cows and the brähmanas. Brähmanas are the symbol of spiritual education, and cows are the symbol of the most valuable food; these two living creatures, the brähmanas and the cows, must be given all protection—that is real advancement of civilization. In modern human society, spiritual knowledge is neglected, and cow killing is encouraged. It is to be understood, then, that human society is advancing in the wrong direction and is clearing the path to its own condemnation.

Answer 5

Its not exactly "worshipping" as Hindus don't pray to cows. Cow isn't a god. Hindus don't eat cows because they sort of feel grateful to it as it's the main source of their income and it gives them milk which is basically what some of them live on for the day at times..those who are really poor. I might be wrong though.

Answer 6

Not Indian-specific, but yes. Why? The Cow is a sacred animal, it was sacred to the Minoans thousands of years ago as a source of multiple kinds of food, easily domesticated, great for work/carrying stuff etc.

At least they're worshipping something that does stuff for them, eh?

Answer 7

Yes, the cow is viewed as a sacred animal for scriptural reasons. They sometimes paint the cows blue along with other rituals. These cows are sacred because they give their milk freely and for other reasons.

Answer 8

¬No, Hindu's believe that people reincarnate into other beings, animals included. Because a person could come back in another life as a cow they do not eat beef (or other meats for that matter) in case the spirit in the cow is a loved one. They do not worship cows, they love them.

Answer 9

Not only Hindoos worship Cow and drink cow's pea and call Cow Mata (mother) like Land is Mother, WHY? for reason look at history.

Look at Egyptian history Cow head on there Ramses body shows its importance.

Go further back age to Agriculture Age (womens age), cause Mother give us life we born by her, for living food is necessary, land keep us alive by providing us vegetables, cow keep us alive by providing Milk to us. Like mother they both give us Life.

Answer 10

hi Raven, i'm now no longer a protestant yet lower back whilst i became a member of the "Lord's restoration" we did right here issues on Sunday. Met at 10:00AM and sat on the assembly corridor (a great plantation abode) in a circle. interior the midst of the circle became a coffee table. for greater or less an hour we sang songs from a hymnal. This became accompanied by ability of a 10 minute smash the place human beings socialized. We then have been given lower back jointly and an elder could talk concerning the readings we've been all meant to have examine in the time of the week. each and every weekday had a meditation printed by ability of residing flow Ministries that each and every physique became meant to purchase and examine faithfully. After a quick creation the elder could sit down and human beings could take turns sharing their evaluations on the examining, be it stuff they enjoyed or questioned approximately. you probably did no longer could desire to assert something yet have been strongly inspired to. purely helpful comments have been inspired. halfway in the time of the sharing a collection of human beings could get a dish of skinny bread and weigh down it up on the coffee table and pass it around. A field of grape juice became additionally handed around with little cups. each and every individual became to take somewhat bit bread and a cup of juice and eat them on an identical time as listening to the sharing that became occurring. close to the tip of the assembly their could be pray-examining. This became the repeating of parts of a bible passage, many times in 3-word increments by ability of each and every physique until the passage became comprehensive. The assembly could many times come to an end at around 12:00PM. those human beings believed they have been worshiping God in those conferences. They by no ability regarded an sturdy pastor yet there have been elders who acted like unofficial pastors. Elders did no longer have messages of their very own yet trusted factors from the publishing enterprise stated above. I felt there became some thing lacking interior the amenities so I moved on in seek for a church that became greater non secular, one that became geared up on the rock.