Can you imagine a world without any boys named Abhishek or girls named Puja? I simply can’t! It is too horrible and sad to even contemplate (unless it raises the worth of existing Abhisheks and Pujas). A generation from now, that’s where we might be headed if these crazy food prices don’t start to come down and these rituals become obsolete. The Washington Post on Wednesday described the growing problem in sad detail:
Every morning, Hindu devotees haul buckets of fresh, creamy milk into this neighborhood temple, then close their eyes and bow in prayer as the milk is used to bathe a Hindu deity. At the foot of the statue, they leave small baskets of bananas, coconuts, incense sticks and marigolds… But recently, Ram Gopal Atrey, the head priest at Prachin Hanuman Mandir, noticed donations thinning for the morning prayers. He knew exactly why: inflation.
With prices soaring for staples such as cooking oils, wheat, lentils, milk and rice across the globe, priests like Atrey say they are seeing the consequences in their neighborhood temples, where even the poorest of the poor have long made donations to honor their faith.
“But today the common man is tortured by the increases in prices,” Atrey lamented during one early morning prayer, or puja, adding that donations of milk were down by as much as 50 percent. [Link]
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p>Without milk you cannot shower the Siva Lingam properly (hence, no Abhishek). Blame it on gas prices. The main reason that milk is becoming so expensive in India is because it costs more to ship that milk around by automobile. Dudhwallas no longer carry as much straight from the local cow.
In New Delhi, the price of rice rose by 20 percent and the price of lentils by 18 percent in the past year. Cooking oil prices have climbed by 40 percent over the same period. The price of milk, which is essential in both diets and religious rituals, rose more than 11 percent in the past year.
Milk is literally the nectar of gods in India. Most temples in the south use it at least twice a day to bathe Hindu statues, since it symbolizes the eternal goodness of human beings and is seen as a generous offering to the faith. [Link]
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p>In rough times like this you can begin to see part of the origin of vegetarianism in Hinduism. If you ate cows then the precious milk which sustains so much of the malnourished population would become even more scarce. Better to “make” beef sacrilegious lest you fall up hard times like these and be without. Now if we could have a reformation where the use of gasoline was deemed by many religions as being sacrilegious as well.
All humor aside, the food crisis is increasingly worrisome. Poor people spend a vastly greater portion of their earnings on food than people who are better off. If you squeeze them even more AND you take away their ability to pray in a traditional manner at the same time, that’s a powder keg of misery just waiting to go off, not just in India, but in many parts of this world.
Tyler Cowen had an interesting piece on the food crisis here.
Makes me glad to be vegan. I wouldn’t really be disappointed to see these ‘milk rituals’ disappear/change. It’s always made me sad that devotees think it’s fine to offer to God something stolen from an animal and its children (and, at lest in the West, that is the product of rape and other horrific treatment). Soymilk abhishekam, anyone?
Our pujari Shri Atrey and his comrades come from many diverse traditions. The happiness of the community seems to be a shared responsibility. Very touching.
The devatas are not picky. They will accept anything. Ganesh or Pillaiyar, in TN, is happy if you offer him a garland of the erukkanpoo, a colorful but not particularly fragrant flower, found growing wild. Shiva needs just a few bilva leaves. And if you are like Kannappa even that is not required. Murtis are just like us. They need some affection that’s all.
2 · Areem said
How tall is your horse? 17..maybe 18 hands? Hate to disabuse your righteous notions, but milk isn’t ‘stolen’ from any animal because animals don’t have property rights (needing the ability to articulate such a right and lacking it)–and I would love to see how you would deliver the necessary protein to people who depend on dairy products for that purpose (god forbid they actually eat some meat/fish!). There is a lively trade in human beings (for prostitution, labor, etc), larger than it ever has been, and you’re worried about forced breeding in the livestock industry?
related, but perhaps not. i wonder how people feel about feeding their cats and dogs gourmet meals of fish/meat or vegetables nowadays. guilty much? no? okay.
I thought most deities only have abhishekams once a week at most-in Tirumala, which has plenty of money, abhishekam for the main deity is done only on friday morning…
I’ve never seen one done in a north indian temple, but the abhishekams for Venkateswara are probably my favorite religious rituals to watch…
but i’m in agreement with jyotsana…if its becoming too much of a burden to keep up the practice in temples where they have to bathe the deity twice a day, it’d be nice if they cut down. unfortunately, don’t think the pujaris will see it the same way.
The food crisis is quite worrying, but I’d rather see people with food than an idol. I think the good thing about most mainstream Hindu traditions is that they emphasize the symbolic nature of the idol/it’s place as a focal point, and allow for a “puja in the mind”. Some, like Vivekananda, even considered such a mental puja superior to the material one. I think that flexibility may come in handy at this time.
4 · Nayagan said
Just a side comment, but taking this sentence as a point of departure, how would one justify any sort of ethics towards animals at all (since their desires cannot be expressed in any human sense, much less a language of rights)?
I have a solution to simultaneously provide both food and religion!
I’m worried about the rising prices of food and how it’s impacting the poor. When basic necessities are up that has to be tough on the poor and I’m sure it affects smaller temples but the larger ones…sorry I don’t even remotely feel bad for them.
The larger temples are so damn wealthy they can stop stuffing their pockets and start spending on the milk. Obviously the pinch doesn’t seem to have hit Hindu temple in Flushing in NY because I watched them pour close to 15 gallons of milk onto the Ganesha idol a couple of weekends ago.
Personally I don’t relate to such “large” rituals. Would Ganesha be upset if you used smaller portions of all the things needed for a ritual? If you are washing the diety in milk isn’t it a bit too much after a few gallons? I’m not very religious though I follow culture but I’m not a big fan of overt rituals. It’s expensive, you can’t afford it, curb it a bit. It’s not necessary. God isn’t going to get upset at you!
Wow Abhi. Awesome piece. Laal Salaam.
“The larger temples are so damn wealthy they can stop stuffing their pockets and start spending on the milk. Obviously the pinch doesn’t seem to have hit Hindu temple in Flushing in NY because I watched them pour close to 15 gallons of milk onto the Ganesha idol a couple of weekends ago.”
I think the article is talking about temples in India….south india in particular…
I doubt the flushing temple is worried or bitching about how to fund their abhishekams.
Section IX: The secret of work, Bhagavad Gita, translated by P. Lal (Lotus/Roli press, 1994)
Now we can begin the usual hindu discussion: what does this mean? Is krishna really god or an aspect of god? Is god really outside good and evil? what are good and evil, anyway?
But will they have enough rice for their annaprashanams?
julie roberts had molten chocolate cakes in the shape of ganesha at a wedding! if it was filled with milk, well, it might be the best solution 🙂
But will they have enough rice for their annaprashanams?
Haha…unless they have to feed a bunch of 80 pound babies I think they’ll be ok…http://www.theonion.com/content/node/38755
I don’t like the title of the article in Washington Post. (“In India, Even Gods Are Going Hungry“). The symbolism in Hinduism is completely lost to non-Hindus (heck, even a lot of Hindus don’t get it). Often, I feel that unless a person has studied about Hinduism written by a practicing Hindu, perhaps even travelled to India (might be too much to ask, though), he/she should not write about anything related to the religion. How would the author or his friends like it if I wrote something about the God in his region freezing in the cold, for instance?
2 · Areem said
Most Brahmins that I know who refuse to eat anything “with a well-developed central nervous system” have no problem driving German cars with leather interiors.
Regarding this wasteful practice, I believe that these Hindus are misguided and hypocritical. Yes – hypocritical! One aspect of Hinduism is meditation and pondering on rights/wrongs/the world/inner self. Apparently, these Brahmins have never done this introspection with respect to WASTING milk/butter (which are luxury items in India) on a stone, while the downtrodden and hungry Dalits are forbidden entry into the temples. No wonder the Muslims would raze the temples and destroy the idols, because from their perspective, this vulgar display of power, exclusion, and arrogance should be banned.
Indeed, yes, definitely those who are arrogant and selfish should be murdered and their institutions destroyed. This is I guess is a form of being “progressive”, I am sure you consider yourself very “sekular”.
The funny thing is that your presentation is also very arrogant (and ignorant) but I have a bad feeling that if you and yours were obliterated and destroyed, you would have a different perspective on all of this…
By that logic, a 6 month year old child doesn’t have any rights.
You can actually get all the protein you need from beans, lentils, grains. No need to “depend” on dairy.
Western vegans sitting in judgement of Indian vegeterians can go pound sand (though it would probably break their brittle bones). The least free range desi cows can do after making me sit in horrendous Mumbai traffic is offer me a teat.
That being said I would much rather this milk be distributed by the temple to kids. Ritual serves an emotional process, but why not just pour out a teaspoon for the deities?
17 · boston_mahesh said
From hence forth thou shall be called Boston_Mohammed, Amen
20 · louiecypher said
Well put.
Is Bajrangbali not as powerful as Bernanke? Does an ability to move mountains fade in the face of monetary policy?
do you really expect anyone to seriously weigh the rights of the squirrel against the family in a moving car if they encounter one another at high speed on a country road? Commercial milk production is horrendous but I’d condone conditions a thousand times worse if it meant necessary nutrition for those who need it. And yes the comment i replied to was referring to property rights–which in the case of animals is not a legitimate question at all. Do you ask the soybeans before harvesting them or cajole a potato out of the ground? No, because if you don’t harvest, they rot, and if you don’t milk a cow it suffers. (In turn, you don’t ask a 6-month old if it wants to be innoculated, you just do it because it is the best option for the child)
Look, i grew up with people who spouted this line and while they were certainly flexible (as most Yogis were there), they were no more healthy or muscular than the rest of us immoral lacto-vegetarians (since lapsed). Eat as much quinoa, seitan, soy as you wish, but don’t pretend it’s equal in nutritional value to even the humble egg.
not always – there’s a difference between the amount you intake and the amount your body actually processes in the right way. i, for instance, decided to go vegetarian, but after two years, i had more than one doctor insist that i start eating meat again for health reasons – apparently, my body just wasn’t processing the vegetarian protein well (even vegetarian protein is processed differently in the body – e.g. goat milk is more easily assimilable than cow milk and is recommended for people w/ certain conditions). and i know at least a handful of people who starting eating meat on the recommendation of their doctors.
No puja’s?! I don’t think the world can do without me.
But all that aside, I think God would rather like children drinking milk and growing up strong rather than the milk being washed down the drain. Salvation by faith alone.
24 · Nayagan said
I agree that eggs and meat do ultimately provide more (and a more complete set) of proteins than do vegan foods (I’m a vegetarian who eats eggs and dairy), but the presence of several (prize-winning) vegan bodybuilders and strength-lifters, among others, attests to the ability of vegan diets to provide adequate (enough to survive, be more than reasonably healthy) nutrition for the average person who needs far less, which I think is relevant to this discussion in particular. I wonder if in these specific, impoverished communities, a vegan diet might be cheaper than buying dairy or eggs? Ak@25 also makes a good point in that not all people can process all protein with the same efficiency, so of course such a vegan diet is not a plausible solution for everyone, even if it is cheaper, and the availability of particular foods where they live is an issue as well.
As for the rights discussion, I feel the examples about harvesting soybeans is irrelevant to a discussion of sentient creatures, as is the case of the squirrel to this particular situation. You make a good point about the milking actually being beneficial to the cow. While I do agree that people must be fed, I think the argument about property rights is a tricky one, as it rests upon an easily-abused anthropocentrism that is used every day to justify things like deforestation.
When I don’t eat daal, I rely on Chipotle for my protein. Not good. I’m probably going to have B12 issues in the future.
I personally think that the kids should not drink the milk either, given that the vast supermajority of Indians tend to be lactose intolerant.
22 · ptr_vivek said
18 · Al beruni said
I don’t think that anyone should be murdered, my friend. I do, however, think that certain THOUGHTS/ACTIONS/IDEALS should be destroyed. Do you like sati? Do you think that darker peoples with less prestigious occupations are not good enough to attend your place of worship? Do you think a widowed woman is a curse on humanity? If you dislike all these ideas, then my friend, we’re alike. However, I DON’T believe that to eradicate these ideals, that someone should resort to violence/suppression/humiliation.
It just tastes damn good. I love milk and milk-based foods. In India, getting buffalo milk is a treat.
Nayagan, I agree with your points on this thread.
Boston_Mahesh, I don’t think the majority of Indians are lactose-intolerant…although a large minority probably are. Most Indian kids don’t have a problem with milk anyway, even the lactose intolerant ones develop that later in life.
Lastly, I think it’s a horrible waste of milk the way they use it in these rituals. But I suppose no more so than the enormous amount of food that restaurants waste everyday. I was at a drug-company sponsored dinner (at an Indian restaurant no less) recently, and quite a lot of high quality food (shrimps, chicken, lamb, etc) was still left sitting unconsumed after we left. Platters of it. Untouched. And this sort of thing is ROUTINE…there were other groups having dinners there that night, same story.
Not to step into the larger debate, but this argument is a bit circular. You are talking about legal rights based on a certain set of ethical values that we currently hold, and the other poster is arguing for a broader set of ethical values, which, one would assume, would change the legal landscape.
25 · ak said
Yeah, this happened to my friend as well. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe that the type of protein your body is better at processing is determined by your upbringing. Thus, someone who is a life-long vegetarian or switches to a non-meat protein based diet early in his/her life will not have issues with this. Someone who switches later in life will indeed have issues. Thus, vegetarianism on a large-scale for many people requires a change in the way society thinks. Based on what some people have posted here, it doesn’t look like that will happen anytime soon. What a shame. Vegetarian diets are cheaper, and those who are lifelong vegetarians actually have longer lifespans than meat-eaters (don’t believe me? Look it up). Additionally, a vegetarian-based diet emits a significantly less amount carbon dioxide than does a meat-based diet. Hence, ultimately, what our society needs to do is shift to more vegetarian foods — global warming is here to stay, and we might as well do what we can to decelerate its pace.
30 · boston_mahesh said
Okay look, you have valid points that there are some things that need to be changed. That’s called progress. But let’s clear up a few things here.
1) Sati: This did not, in fact, derive from any Hindu traditions. It was initially adopted as a way to prevent foreign invaders from raping women one their husbands had died. Women viewed rape as worse than death. Eventually, this morphed into the ugly beast it became in the past one or two centuries, and was cemented in India due to restrictive policies of the colonial period that hindered progress. 2) The caste system: This is going to be controversial, but look it up if you want to. The fact of the matter is that the caste system as we perceive it today – largely through a Western lens, may I add – did not derive in Hindu tradition either. It was originally a way to allocate labor. The initial “caste system” was flexible and mobile: you were not born into a caste, and you could move between one caste and the other. The original system was a meritocracy (think of it like a job structure in a large company), but it did not place people in fixed social strata in society. 3) Muslims destroying temples: Muslims didn’t destroy temples because the temples were pouring milk on deities. Muslims destroyed the temples because the temples were Hindu, and the Muslims invaders preferred that the inhabitants be Muslim, not Hindu. Destroying the place of worship is a logical start for this kind of “mission.” FYI – by implying your support of these actions, you imply your approval.
YES! I don’t agree with your assertions about sati (entirely) or the caste system (at all), but the thing about temple destruction you nailed.
34 · vb said
anecdotal rebuttal: i ate a lacto-veg diet for 24 years and switched a few months ago to an ‘anything’ diet. no side effects other than feeling slightly stronger in the gym.
33 · Rahul said
Ahh but it’s hard to articulate the platform for a broader set of ethical values when you use the word ‘stolen’ (which in my everyday bitter middle class environment is a reliable reference to personal property) I can’t help but get all HMF on ya. My bad.
I just read Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Meat book cover-to-cover. My head’s been spinning right round…
Agree with this. As well as the fact that you could feed more people with the same resources if you feed them grains vs meat. And as far as whether plant- or animal-based protein is better, if you’re starving do you really care or would you just be glad for the food?
Fair enough. I am not entirely convinced of the ethical concept of property rights as applied to animals either, myself, just interpreting what the other commenter must have meant 🙂
I have no idea why the discussion turned to vegetarianism (“What Would Janardhan Devour?”), but figured I’d share my personal experience: I was “Indian vegetarian” (vegetarian, milk and eggs) as a child, but started eating meat and seafood about 10-12 years ago. I turned vegetarian about 4 years ago, mainly convinced by Peter Singer’s Animal Liberation and his vivid descriptions of factory farming of livestock, poultry and fish, the use of animals for cosmetics and often gratuitous scientific testing, and by the human-centric argument that a vegetarian diet is more environmentally efficient, and can feed more people. While this was manageable for me on the one hand, since I was originally vegetarian, I did miss several meat dishes that I really enjoyed. I have managed to stay vegetarian ever since, despite the fact that Brazilian barbeque is now off limits to me for life, except for a couple of instances where I was too tempted by some delicious salmon. I tried going vegan briefly but was unable to sustain it, since I cook quite infrequently and it is difficult to stay vegan purely on restaurant food.
I have to say, though, that there are few things more annoying than sanctimonious vegetarians and vegans, so I don’t generally bring up the topic.
speaking of peter singer, here is the article that made his reputation as a popular ethicist, “famine, affluence, and poverty” [on the bangladesh famine and what we (people in affluent nations) are obliged to do about it.]
one argument in circulation is that commodity prices are being driven up by speculators – there is no REAL shortage of food. i can believe that to some extent. steer prices are still stuck at 92/lb since last year – i’m curious if and when the grain hike will hit teh commodities.
agreed on the second point.
Boston_Mahesh: Only 20% of Indians in Central/N India are lactose intolerant. About 50% of S Indians are lactose intolerant. This is hardly a “vast majority”. And furthermore, most Indians with lactose intolerance handle yogurt quite well. It’s hard for me to believe that a whole nation of people would subject themselves to the runs every night by eating yogurt.
But the rituals are for us and not Ganesha, no? Who doesn’t love pomp and splendor once in a while. I agree it’s stupid to waste resources that are desperately needed elsewhere. But beyond a certain point such arguments, as expressed by many, make me uncomfortable. By this reasoning we should not have any art, music, or poetry either, no to mention the sheer delightful nonsense that serves no purpose at all. Besides, there are other ways of looking at ritual rather than just a dumb set of actions. Ritual fosters a sense of community, brings regularity and disciple in one’s life, even keeps one sane, and who knows what else. And people adapt rituals all the time. Look at the jiffy marriage ceremonies for example. This too will change soon enough.
I think JoaT was referring to her priest, who is named Ganesha. And yes, he would be upset because that’s less coconuts, milks, fruits and sundries for him to skim off the top.
Funny Rahul.
Actually Divya I wasn’t at all implying that rituals should be made away with. I just think where a temple might be pinching for the resources it would do them a world of wonder to be a bit more conservative. I mean what would that be one or two less gallons of milk? Overt rituals and pomp should never be at the cost of ability and practicality of the parties involved. Much like weddings. If one is going broke and still paying off their wedding years later they fucked up and shouldn’t have spent that much in the first place.
42 · khoofia said
in passing, here’s an article that highlights the oddball market wherein the grain producers are really not benefitting from the price boom. A few years back there was a wonderfully researched book by ingeberg boyens that had highlighted a similar paradox – though the context was different. farmers were going bankrupt in those days.
Hey, can anyone recommend online Indian stores that offer prices comparable to offline desi stores? I and my Indian husband moved to a place with no Indian stores around. I googled for online stores, but they seem to have exorbitant prices, not like the low-prices we were used to in the Indian stores around Philadelphia. ~Thanks!
Too bad, it’s one of Pantera’s greatest.
35 · grhe said
Your point 3 was excellent, and I agree with it. The Muslims who destroyed the temples of the Subcontinent did so, not because they were social thinkers (like myself), but because the temples weren’t Islamic. Very good point.
Regarding Sati – no. You’re wrong. There are some scriptures that talked about how a good wife should follow her husband, even in death.
Regarding caste system – no. You’re wrong here as well. Hinduism is the only religion in the world which as indoctrinated racism/colorism. Sudras (the majority of Hindus) and Dalits (at least 20% of Hindus) are forbidden from listening to slokas. If they did, they’d have molten lead poured down their ears. The “uppercastes”, who’d scared the illiterate populace like crazy due to their monopoly on literacy, had other repressive laws regarding castes and “knowing your place, boy.”