People around the world look at animals and birds in their own way. In India, from time immemorial, we see them as fellow beings with whom we share the earth. Animals have been traditionally considered sacred and are worshipped as vehicles of deities or as deities themselves in Indian culture. They are considered as impetuses of growth, spurs of love and harmony, and symbols of the culture itself. One of the aspects that makes Indian culture incomparable is its belief of sacredness of animals. Our culture respects and reveres life in all its forms.
E. M. Forster, a noted English novelist has opined that “Indians believe that birds, animals, and human beings – as indeed everything else – are an integral part of divinity. This is the central
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The sport is a part of Tamil tradition called ‘Yeru Thazhuvuthal’ (meaning: to embrace bulls) and was very popular among Tamil warriors in the Sangam era. The term ‘Jallikattu’ was coined from the Tamil terms ‘salli kaasu’ (meaning: coins) and ‘kattu’ (meaning: package). The name changed to ‘Jallikattu’ later in the colonial period. The sport was a display of courage and according to folklores, the successful matadors were chosen as grooms for women during those days. Jallikattu is conventionally played by communities that take pride in their martial history. The taming of the bull on rampage without any weapons is considered as a mark of virility. The sport has three variants – Vati Manju Virattu, Veli Virattu and Vatam Manjuvirattu. Jallikattu bulls are fed a nutritive diet and given regular exercise to make them strong and competent for the event. They are much more than prized possessions for its owners and are treated with dignity and love. They name their bulls afters the Gods associated with their ancestry. The ambience of the event is electrifying with tens of thousands of people flooding the pitch with eager faces to catch a glimpse of the bulls decked with coloured powder, ribbons, and garlands. The prize money is tied on the horns of the bulls in a package. Young men, cheered on by the crowd, make attempts to pounce on the running bulls trying to hold the bull’s hump, move along with the bull without falling and getting hurt. The bulls try to get away and shake off the fighters. It requires valour, quick reflexes and a fleet foot to tame the bull and grab the prize
Myths were used to unite the people of the tribe, giving them a way of life, and a peace of mind. Armstrong states “The hunters feel profoundly uneasy about slaughtering the beasts, who are their friends and patrons, and to assuage them this anxiety, they surround the hunt with taboos and prohibitions. They say that long ago that animals made a covenant with humankind and now a god known as the Animal Master regularly sends flocks from the lower world to be killed on the hunting plains, because the hunters promised to perform the rites that will give them posthumous life” (Armstrong 4). Although the hunters feel uneasy and even fearful of killing their “friends”, they still follow through with it because of a myth telling them that the Animal Master will forgive them and even sent more beast for them to hunt if they follow a certain ritual before killing their prey. Without the ritual this type of action will become a simple murder without a reason, this action than hinders the mind psychologically and starts to deteriorate it, while treading the path of insanity. The myths and rituals allows these people to kill wild animals without conferring a mental breakdown by sugar coating their inhumane actions with meaning to the survival of the society. This type of myth allowed the ancient civilization to realize the undeniable truth of life where sacrifice is a necessity to the progression of another
the idea of the wild and its importance and necessity of human interaction with the wild.
Interconnectedness is a theme that flows throughout all aspects of Cherokee culture from spirituality to medicine, as they believe everything within the world is related. They believe spiritual energy courses through all components of the universe that influence their daily life and maintaining a balance between these energies is crucial to being in harmony with Mother Nature and living a fulfilling life. Rather than having a dominant species, group or society, all components of the world are considered to be equal and to have a purposeful role (Garrett 2001 pg 1). Given this perspective, the Cherokee believe they can learn about health and medicine from plants, survival tactics from animals, and spirit freedom from birds. Due to this relationship, it is their duty to respect and revere this continuous flow of energy within the universe as they consider themselves to be brought to this earth as the keepers of Mother Nature (Garrett and Garrett 1996).
All things in nature; humans, plants, and animals were believed to be a spiritual being. Totemism, the belief that humans all humans have a spiritual connection with spirit beings (often in the form of an animal) was central to the Native American tribe’s spirituality. Health and wellbeing are closely linked to spirituality, requiring a spiritual and harmonious relationship with the environment.
1.) Intro: I decided to focus my Religious Ethnography on a friend whom I recently have become close with. Adhita Sahai is my friend’s name, which she later told me her first name meant “scholar.” I choose to observe and interview Adhita, after she invited me to her home after hearing about my assignment. I was very humbled that she was open to this, because not only was it a great opportunity for this paper, but it also helped me get to know Adhita better. I took a rather general approach to the religious questions that I proposed to the Sahai family because I didn’t want to push to deep, I could tell Hinduism is extremely important to this family. Because this family does not attend a religious site where they worship, I instead listened to how they do this at home as a family instead.
These traditions and laws exist because for centuries man has recognized the wisdom and natural correctness of using animals for food, clothing, research, education, and companionship.
Regan, Tom. "A Reply to Griffiths." Animals and Christianity. Ed. A. Linzey et al. New York: Crossroad, 1990.
Animals are viewed as companions, they could be there for you every step of the way, like if you are a traveler or just spending a lot of time
To American Indians, “The Earth is considered to be a living organism- the body of a higher individual, with a will and desire to be well. The Earth is periodically healthy and less healthy,
I felt it was a good idea to ask my next question when I did because of the interest I got in Native Americans in a previous question. “Do you know anything about the religious beliefs of Native Americans?” For this question, I felt everyone had the same general idea about Native American beliefs. Many of them believed the Native Americans worshiped nature and had a deep respect for it. Lynne had said “I know they believed things had a spirit, everything is alive and that everything worships God. What I loved about them when I was younger was that if for example, if they were to hunt and kill something they would thank it for feeding them.” Very similarly Frank said, “They would thank nature, like if they had to kill an animal for food they would thank it for its services.” Marie had said “I think they believe in the sun and the seasons, I
...ld note that all three religions, Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism, have been the dominant, prevailing religious trends in India for many centuries, and they clearly reflect the culture, history, and spirituality of the country. All three of these religions effectively reflect the views of believers on life, death and honorable conduct. Nonetheless, despite the fact that they are very much related with each other, each has some distinct features distinguishing it from all others, and contributes to the understanding of the religious background in India both at the beginning of the new era of humanity, and in the contemporary period of time.
This was the topic given to my group in the first presentation we gave. Well, while looking at the topic for the first time, the image of my pet at my home flashed on my mind. I won’t use “it” to refer my pet. He is one of us! The way he is with all of us, loving, cute, understanding, showing intelligent responses that always surprises us and makes us happy. Yes! He does understand our language (Telugu), he shows his interests/likes through his actions, he cries/shouts when we leave him. He always wants to go roam outside, when my mom says “come, we will go out” in Telugu it comes running with mouth wide open with happiness to her. When sometimes, I myself don’t know what is being
An elephant may seem to be a silly topic to be writing an honors thesis over. To a lot of people the elephant is a mammal they can only find at the zoo or in a circus. It is not something to be treasured and loved. It is a machine to move logs across the country or to fight wars. It is something to stare at in adoration and wonder. It is something they never touch. They might as well just be something of fairy tales and stories. The truth about elephants is that they are truly magical creatures that are of fairy tales and stories. They are creatures who have been on Earth for millions of years. They lived when dinosaurs still walked the Earth and continue to survive even today. People need to understand the importance of these remarkable creatures. They also need to understand the value that these animals play with thousands of peoples lives, including my own. They portray a symbol of strength, hope, knowledge and thousands of other things. They have been depicted in gods and religions. Most importantly, to me they are a symbol of love and adoration. They remind me of a time when my father was still with me. This is why I am writing my thesis. I plan to discuss the importance of elephants to many different religions and cultures.
Attention Getter- Ghandhi once said, “To my mind, the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being. The more helpless the creature, the more that it is entitled to protection by man from the cruelty of man.” The mistreatment of animals only continues to get worse and something needs to be done to stop it.
Today, Hinduism stands as India’s primary religion. In fact, India houses 90% of the world’s Hindi population and 79.8% of India’s population follows the Hindu religion, according to the 2011 census. It is thought by some to be the oldest religion in the world and the “eternal law” (Fowler). This culture is truly one as defined by Edward Taylor: “A complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, customs, and any other capability and habit acquired by man as a member of society.” In order to have somewhat of an understanding about what the Hindu religion entails, one must study the Hindu conception of God, its basic concepts and key beliefs, as well as symbolism.