Hinduism in Five Minutes - Steven W Ramey
41. Why do Hindus Not Eat Beef?
Hinduism in Five Minutes - Steven W Ramey
Will Sweetman [+]
University of Otago
Will Sweetman is Professor of Asian Religions at the University of Otago in New Zealand. His research focusses on interactions between religions in India in the early modern period. He is author of Mapping Hinduism: ‘Hinduism’ and the Study of Indian Religions, 1600–1776 (Harrassowitz, 2003); and co-author (with R. Ilakkuvan) of Bibliotheca Malabarica: Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg’s Tamil Library (Institut Francais De Pondichery, 2012). He is working on a book provisionally entitled “Genealogies of Hinduism.”
Description
It is true that most Hindus do not eat beef, but the idea that this has always been a defining characteristic of Hindu practice is relatively recent. This chapter examines when Hindus stopped eating beef and considers some of the explanations for this change which have been proposed.