📍 🇮🇳 What cows mean for Indians

Shri Krishna is one of India’s most popular divinities, hailed notably by the community of Milkmen - one of his names being ‘Gopala’ (the one who cares for the cows). During medieval times, the cult for Krishna was particularly intense, as the significant number of Krishna-praising ballads proves.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, Bishnupur (in West Bengal) was a major center of ‘prembhakti marga’ - the path of devotion through love. There too, love towards cows can be seen in the exquisite terracotta tiles of the Madana-Mohana Temple.

Local craftsmen have probably mixed their direct observations with oral tales to portray these cows. Part description, part poetic ballad one may say.

____ Sources ____

>> Marg, A Magazine of the Arts, volume 54 number 3, March 2003