Link to IGTV: https://www.instagram.com/tv/B9mTwdhn4f7/
Restaurant: Samosa House East, Culver City
When I moved to LA two years ago, I kept seeing vegan and vegetarian Indian food restaurants pop up in and around Culver City. Being the google scholar that I am (not really) I decided to investigate whether eating vegetarian or vegan food in India was a popular than America.
There are approximately 400 million vegetarians in India, although it’s still a primarily meat-eating country, I think that’s impressive because India has more vegetarians than the rest of the world combined.
So India is the homeland to Hinduism. The Hindu scripture have long supported the spiritual benefits of a vegetarian diet. But based on an article I found online published in 2017, the last survey of diet habits in India shows that 71% of the nation is not vegetarian, with about 80% of the nation identifying as Hindu. The survey shows that there are strong regional differences in dietary choice. But fun fact, back in the day, the caste system determined who was a vegetarian, though obviously that’s no longer the situation.
What I think the most beautiful part about Hinduism is that it’s the only religion in which various animals are closely related to God, and some are worshiped as one of them. Hindus regard all living creatures as sacred: mammals, fishes, birds, and more. The Hindus worship cow as the goddess and symbolizes motherhood, kindness and forbearance. Thus killing and eating the cow is strictly prohibited in Hinduism, but there are some states in India where there is no restriction on cow slaughter.
The bull is considered to represent knowledge, devotion, and strength. This animal is considered as the best friend of humans but they do have a religious significance. In the festival of Tihar, dog is worshiped in Nepal. They are believed to guard the doors of hell and heaven.
Any way, I found all this super interesting. Glad to make IGTVs, I feel empty just posting selfies with silly captions. I’m also going to start really incorporating essays, especially after publishing an IGTV, because you know, reading is important.
Alright, see you when I see you.
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