Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Spiritual Sustenance
For many in India, food is considered just as critical for fine-tuning the spirit as it is for
sustaining the body. Broadly speaking, Hindus traditionally avoid foods that are thought to
inhibit physical and spiritual development, although there are few hard-and-fast rules. The
taboo on eating beef (the cow is holy to Hindus) is the most rigid restriction. Jains avoid
foods such as garlic and onions, which, apart from harming insects in their extraction from
the ground, are thought to heat the blood and arouse sexual desire. You may come across
vegetarian restaurants that make it a point to advertise the absence of onion and garlic in
their dishes for this reason. Devout Hindus may also avoid garlic and onions. These items
are also banned from many ashrams.
Some foods, such as dairy products, are considered innately pure and are eaten to cleanse
the body, mind and spirit. Ayurveda, the ancient science of life, health and longevity, also
influences food customs.
Pork is taboo for Muslims and stimulants such as alcohol are avoided by the most de-
vout. Halal is the term for all permitted foods, and haram for those prohibited. Fasting is
considered an opportunity to earn the approval of Allah, to wipe the sin-slate clean and to
understand the suffering of the poor.
Buddhists and Jains subscribe to the philosophy of ahimsa (nonviolence) and are mostly
vegetarian. Jainism's central tenet is ultra-vegetarianism, and rigid restrictions are in place
to avoid even potential injury to any living creature - Jains abstain from eating vegetables
that grow underground because of the potential to harm insects during cultivation and har-
vesting.
India's Sikh, Christian and Parsi communities have little or no restrictions on what they
can eat.
