Gau Mata

The cow has been a symbol of wealth since ancient days. However, they were neither inviolable nor revered in the same way they are today.
The cow was possibly revered because Hindus relied heavily on it for dairy products and for tilling the fields, and on cow dung as a source of fuel and fertilizer. Thus, the cow’s status as a 'caretaker' led to identifying it as an almost maternal figure (hence the term gau mata). In the olden days cattle being limited to select few fortunate folks, the cows enjoyed the status that gold or money enjoys today. In addition, it has been suggested by author and orator Terence McKenna that religious reverence for the cow is a result of early humankind's association of psilocybin mushroom with it, this association having developed as a result of the discovery of said mushrooms in the animal's excrement.^[3]
Hinduism is based on the concept of omnipresence of the Divine, and the presence of a soul in all creatures, including bovines. Thus, by that definition, killing any animal would be a sin: one would be obstructing the natural cycle of birth and death of that creature, and the creature would have to be reborn in that same form because of its unnatural death. Krishna, one of the incarnations of god in Hindu Mythology (Avatar), tended cows. The cow and bull represent the symbol of Dharma, reverence for cows and bull is the major texts of the Vedic religion.^[4]
In South India and some parts of Sri Lanka, Cattle festival is celebrated and it is called as