Bull’s Eye-view In India!

Bull has enjoyed a central place in mythology cutting across many civilizations. In agrarian India it enjoyed a special place but is now in decline owing to widespread artificial insemination of cows. The photo above of a bull in an Indian town is symbolic of the waning power and majesty of the bull. I am reminded of the following poem…

“I am monarch of all I survey;
My right there is none to dispute;…
I am out of humanity’s reach;
I must finish my journey alone;…”
(With apologies to William Cowper “The Solitude of Alexander Selkirk”)

In Indian mythology Nandi bull as a separate god can be traced back to Indus Valley Civilization, where dairy farming was the most important occupation, thus explaining the appearance of various artifacts, such as the ‘Pasupati Seal,’ indicating a deity much like Shiva. More here…

Some more interesting info…”There is a reason that Shiva’s mount, the bull Nandi, is not an ox. A bull is a useless animal; he is wild, and cannot be used to do any work. But he can do one thing that an ox cannot do: he can make cows pregnant…” More here…

And then the usual question about cow and being holy.. See here…

More on bulls…”In Babylonia, figures of bull gods guarded the entrance into temples, houses and gardens (in contrast the lion of Judah was utilised extensively in the British Empire). During the Assyrian period a human face was added: at Khorsabad colossal humanheaded winged bulls were found at the palace of Sargon II.

“All over the ancient Middle East we find reference to the bull which is used as a symbol of strength and fertility as well as to bull gods. El, the supreme deity of the decadent Canaanite pantheon, was often called “the Bull El” (he was a fertility god). Baal, the god of fertility, storms, rain and vegetation is also called the Bull. Similarly
among the Hittites, Aramaeans and Babylonians, the bull gods were a dominant feature of their religions, not to mention the many bull and calf-cults linked closely to the Egyptian god Horus…” More here…

In this context this article by Devinder Sharma “Holy Cows — Acclaimed Abroad, Despised At Home” is interesting…. See here…

Some more info on bulls and dairy cattle… See here…