Go Puja (Cow Woship) Festivals - जाओ पूजा (गाय वोशिप)
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The day next to Sankranti is set apart for the worship of cows. The festival is given the name of 'Mattu Pongal' from the custom of cooking Pongal for the cows to feed on. Cattle form the chief asset of an agriculturist and consequently it is but proper that their services are recognised. Hence a small portion of the annual produce is utilised to feet them. This is perhaps the simplest explanation that can be given for the origin of the custom.
There is an Indian proverb which says that the joys of the world do not exist where there is no wealth, and cattle formed the wealth of the primitive people. Hence the wise sages of old have laid down that the worship of the bulls and cows at least once in a year is necessary of one wishes to be free from want, disease and sin.
People do worship the sacred animal, the cow, once in a year, not only because the same is enjoined in the scriptures for having good progeny, but also for the fact that its milk forms a very important part of our food, and consequently, it deserves to be specially treated at least once in a year.
The ethical code of the highly evolved of the Hindu sages is quite different from what is in vogue at the present time among ordinary people. The present moral code does not prevent the owner of a cow from sending it to the knacker's yard as soon as it is dry. The owner of a horse or a dog shoots his animal with impunity if it is no longer useful, forgetting the benefit he had derived from it when it was string and active. But the ancient sages through that the milk of the cow was meant for the calf, and consequently if a man took the same by force he became a thief. Similarly, they thought that if an animal was useful to an individual even for a very short period, it must be treated with kindness till its death. A man who did not do so, committed the sin of ingratitude. People even go to the extent of saying that the ancient sages never used to kill animals while performing sacrifices, but simply asked them for particular portions of flesh from their body which the latter willingly relinquished. The sages, by their yogic powers, made it possible for the animals to live till the portions given were formed once again in course of time. The same procedure was observed with regard to the vegetable kingdom also by the wise men of old. They recited certain incantations addressing the presiding deity of the plants whose portions they might desire for their use. The deity gladly placed at their disposal the parts solicited. In fact, when sage Kanva wanted presents for his adopted daughter Sakuntala, he got them only in this manner, from the various trees of the forest in which his hermitage was located.
Considering these facts, it is no wonder that the Hindus try to show their gratitude by performing Puja of the cattle that were of immense use to them during the past year. There is a very interesting myth relating to the origin of the cow. As soon as men came into existence, they realized the waste of tissues in their body and felt the need of doing something about it. They naturally approached Brahma for help. He thought that the celestial nectar would be too strong for men to digest, and consequently took a quantity of it himself, specialized it in his body and reduced it to a form in which men could safely take it.
He then took the form of a cow and made the nectar flow from her udders to feed his children- the human beings. Hence the cow is considered both father and mother and consequently one becomes a parricide, a matricide, and the slayer of Brahma if he kills a cow. If one ill- treats a cow, he becomes a great sinner. If one worships a cow, he worships Brahma as well as his parents. If he protects a cow, he protects his parents in their old age. There is also a sort sacredness attached to the foam emanating from the mouth of a cow, and the mythical reason for the same is given below.
As soon as Brahma swallowed a small quantity of nectar and assumed the form of the cow, a large quantity of foam was formed in his mouth and it began to fall on a Sivalingam. As the foam was nothing else but nectar Siva was highly pleased. From that time onward it was ordained that the foam in the mouth of a cow should be considered as sacred as nectar itself. The sin of pollution attaches itself to the foam in the mouth of any other animal, but in the mouth of a cow it is to be considered holy, and consequently it is as free from pollution as fire, wind, and gold are said to be. In fact, every part of the cow is said to be divine in its origin and it is enjoined in the Hindu sacred scriptures that it should be treated with reverence.
There is yet another myth emphasizing the importance of the cow. A Brahmin in the city of Mathura had once owned a cow named Bahula. It was grazing on the banks of the river Yamuna, on the fourteenth day of the bright fortnight of Bhadrapada, that is, in the months of September- October. Suddenly a tiger appeared there and desired to eat the cow.
The cow had a calf whom she loved very much. It, therefore, begged the tiger to permit it to go home, feed the calf and then come back, to be devoured by it. The tiger consented and the cow went home. While the cow was away, the tiger departed its life from an accident that had happened to it. The spirit that was in the tiger's body was in reality a great soul that had accumulated great merit in the past lives and consequently on benign liberated from the fleshy tabernacle of the tiger's body, was able to understand the 'why' of things, vouchsafed only to great souls. When the cow returned to the place to become a prey to the tiger, it bade the cow to go back to its calf safe and sound. At the same time, it vouchsafed increase in cattle to one who gifted a cow to another on that particular day in Bhadrapada.
The places considered specially auspicious for the performance of Go Puja areTiruvamathur near Villupuram, a junction on the South Indian Railway, Karur, in the Trichinopoly district and Avur and Pattisvaram in the Tanjore district.
There is an Indian proverb which says that the joys of the world do not exist where there is no wealth, and cattle formed the wealth of the primitive people. Hence the wise sages of old have laid down that the worship of the bulls and cows at least once in a year is necessary of one wishes to be free from want, disease and sin.
People do worship the sacred animal, the cow, once in a year, not only because the same is enjoined in the scriptures for having good progeny, but also for the fact that its milk forms a very important part of our food, and consequently, it deserves to be specially treated at least once in a year.
The ethical code of the highly evolved of the Hindu sages is quite different from what is in vogue at the present time among ordinary people. The present moral code does not prevent the owner of a cow from sending it to the knacker's yard as soon as it is dry. The owner of a horse or a dog shoots his animal with impunity if it is no longer useful, forgetting the benefit he had derived from it when it was string and active. But the ancient sages through that the milk of the cow was meant for the calf, and consequently if a man took the same by force he became a thief. Similarly, they thought that if an animal was useful to an individual even for a very short period, it must be treated with kindness till its death. A man who did not do so, committed the sin of ingratitude. People even go to the extent of saying that the ancient sages never used to kill animals while performing sacrifices, but simply asked them for particular portions of flesh from their body which the latter willingly relinquished. The sages, by their yogic powers, made it possible for the animals to live till the portions given were formed once again in course of time. The same procedure was observed with regard to the vegetable kingdom also by the wise men of old. They recited certain incantations addressing the presiding deity of the plants whose portions they might desire for their use. The deity gladly placed at their disposal the parts solicited. In fact, when sage Kanva wanted presents for his adopted daughter Sakuntala, he got them only in this manner, from the various trees of the forest in which his hermitage was located.
Considering these facts, it is no wonder that the Hindus try to show their gratitude by performing Puja of the cattle that were of immense use to them during the past year. There is a very interesting myth relating to the origin of the cow. As soon as men came into existence, they realized the waste of tissues in their body and felt the need of doing something about it. They naturally approached Brahma for help. He thought that the celestial nectar would be too strong for men to digest, and consequently took a quantity of it himself, specialized it in his body and reduced it to a form in which men could safely take it.
He then took the form of a cow and made the nectar flow from her udders to feed his children- the human beings. Hence the cow is considered both father and mother and consequently one becomes a parricide, a matricide, and the slayer of Brahma if he kills a cow. If one ill- treats a cow, he becomes a great sinner. If one worships a cow, he worships Brahma as well as his parents. If he protects a cow, he protects his parents in their old age. There is also a sort sacredness attached to the foam emanating from the mouth of a cow, and the mythical reason for the same is given below.
As soon as Brahma swallowed a small quantity of nectar and assumed the form of the cow, a large quantity of foam was formed in his mouth and it began to fall on a Sivalingam. As the foam was nothing else but nectar Siva was highly pleased. From that time onward it was ordained that the foam in the mouth of a cow should be considered as sacred as nectar itself. The sin of pollution attaches itself to the foam in the mouth of any other animal, but in the mouth of a cow it is to be considered holy, and consequently it is as free from pollution as fire, wind, and gold are said to be. In fact, every part of the cow is said to be divine in its origin and it is enjoined in the Hindu sacred scriptures that it should be treated with reverence.
There is yet another myth emphasizing the importance of the cow. A Brahmin in the city of Mathura had once owned a cow named Bahula. It was grazing on the banks of the river Yamuna, on the fourteenth day of the bright fortnight of Bhadrapada, that is, in the months of September- October. Suddenly a tiger appeared there and desired to eat the cow.
The cow had a calf whom she loved very much. It, therefore, begged the tiger to permit it to go home, feed the calf and then come back, to be devoured by it. The tiger consented and the cow went home. While the cow was away, the tiger departed its life from an accident that had happened to it. The spirit that was in the tiger's body was in reality a great soul that had accumulated great merit in the past lives and consequently on benign liberated from the fleshy tabernacle of the tiger's body, was able to understand the 'why' of things, vouchsafed only to great souls. When the cow returned to the place to become a prey to the tiger, it bade the cow to go back to its calf safe and sound. At the same time, it vouchsafed increase in cattle to one who gifted a cow to another on that particular day in Bhadrapada.
The places considered specially auspicious for the performance of Go Puja areTiruvamathur near Villupuram, a junction on the South Indian Railway, Karur, in the Trichinopoly district and Avur and Pattisvaram in the Tanjore district.