No wonder human beings welcome each other into our homes with food. We share whatever little or more we have with the ones we love and care for. And sometimes we share food with strangers, especially when the person is hungry or poor.
The act of feeding is more than just an act of charity. It is considered a sukarma to feed the poor.
But it is not just fellow humans that we enjoy sharing food with. Feeding animals is probably an innate human instinct. We love feeding animals, be it animals in the zoo or pigeons. We enjoy when monkeys accept snacks and smile when they indicate yeah dil mange more.
In India most animals are considered sacred. They are treated with respect and are fed out of love and devotion.
In fact some rituals in Hindu tradition involve feeding birds and animals. An example is the ritual of Pitri Paksha that is performed to pay respect to one’s ancestors. Here it is not just the act of feeding which matters. People performing the ritual of Pitri Paksha wait for the crows to accept their offerings without which it is believed that the soul of ancestors are unhappy.
Throughout my India travels seen people feeding pigeons with grains, within and outside temples. This is essentially a Hindu and Jain tradition. My neighbor has a plate in the balcony that has bowls for grains and water.
So why do we feed pigeons?
Some believe it brings good luck, others feed on instructions of their astrologer to counter negative karmas for e.g., “If the Mercury in the horoscope is sitting in an ominous location, then feed birds, grains and water on the verandah of your home or outside your home.” 1
Indophile E.M.Forster says, "Indians believe that birds, animals and human beings – as indeed everything else – are an integral part of divinity. This is the central belief of all Indian religious and cultural thought and thus, all forms of life must be respected equally. Thus human beings and elephants, horses, cattle and birds like the mynah, the peacock, the parrot and the koel are woven into many fables and religious treatises. Water creatures like the crocodile, the turtle and fish are considered sacred and are associated with sacred rivers like the Ganga and Yamuna. India’s belief that animals, birds and sea creatures are sacred is a dominant and beautiful aspect of Indian culture for millenniums. They are earthly and spiritual companions of human beings and thus equal sharers of the world and its resources.” 3
According to Hindu tradition most God and Goddess have animals associated with them for e.g. Karthika’s is peacock and Vishnu’s is Garuda. Here are reasons why the following animals are worshipped.
Cow - is the best example of a selfless creature. It provides us more than what it takes. Hence called Gaumata, which gives it a meaning of mother.
According to Hindu tradition the cow is associated Sri Krishna and Aditi, the mother of Gods. Devotees feed cows to ward off the ill effects of planetary positions based on one’s horoscope. ‘People, who are facing delay in marriage due to the inauspicious effect of this planet in their birthplace house, must feed fodder to the cow and the elephant.’ 1
The cow helps in many ways because of which its importance has increased for e.g. India has used cow-dung as medicine for centuries. In a village near Bhuj, Kutch saw cow dung being used as manure. It is cheap and eco-friendly.
In Kutch, traditional homes or Bhungas covered with cow dung to keep homes warm during the winter. Ditto in villages around Barmer & Jodhpur. “Cylindrical shaped mud walls helps protecting from direct sunrays and hence keep the home cool from inside in the summer. And the cow dung helps resisting the cold during winters.”
Elephant- Ganesha is known as one with an elephant’s head. He is also known as Vinayaka and widely worshipped across India and Southeast Asia.
It is in south India that the elephant is most revered. All important temples have a few elephants of their own. They are seen on festive occasions. Elephants are intrinsic to the celebrations of the Thrissur Pooram festival in Kerala. During the festival saw elephants being worshipped by devotees. The pavement was filled with food, payasam (sweet pudding), bananas etc for elephants. Elephants are decorated with ornaments during, an amazing sight to see displayed ornaments.
Rat - it is primarily the vehicle (or Vaahana) of Ganesha.
“Ganesha sits on a rat, the rat is symbolic of an animal that is active in the darkness of the night who sniffs out food by smelling its way around the darkness. Smell in Sanskrit is translated as Vasna which in Sanskrit also means negative mental traits. Thus vasna has a dual meaning, i.e. it symbolizes our negative traits that dominate when ignorance (or darkness) exists.”
“When Ganesha sits on a rat it means use wisdom and intelligence to trounce and master all the negative mental attributes or vasnas, that take you into the darkness of ignorance and the resultant suffering that comes due to this ignorance.”