Cow is a sacred animal to nearly all contemporary Hindus, but there is a tiny Hindu minority in Kerala that consumes beef.
Apart from this oddity, respect for the cow is one of the few beliefs that virtually all Hindu groups share.
Demands for a total ban on cow slaughter have long been a tried and true method for political parties to gain support from the orthodox Hindu population, but similar demands have much more clout in northern India, where a sizable Muslim minority has no qualms about killing and eating beef.
With the rise of tensions between Hindu and Muslim populations, organized demands for such a ban started in the 1880s.
The Cow Protection Movement, as it is often known, has persisted to the current day.
Cow slaughter has been a contentious issue in India since 1947, when the country achieved independence, and it is one of the country's most divisive issues.
Pious Hindus donate to goshalas, which are institutions for elderly and infirm cows, as part of their philanthropic deeds.
There's a lot of conjecture and even debate regarding where these emotions towards the cow come from.
Some have emphasized the cow's importance in an agricultural civilization as a source of both draft animals and repeatable riches.
Other explanations have emphasized the cow's capacity to convert agricultural waste into milk and manure, which is a major source of fuel in most of northern India.
Others have observed how emotions for cows are intertwined with maternal symbolism, since both are believed to give milk for a child's sustenance.
This is perhaps the most significant argument, since it is obvious that orthodox Hindu sentiments for the cow are mainly based on strong emotional content rather than logical cost-benefit analysis.
