Sacred monkey of the Hindus. South India What animals are considered sacred in India
Russians purchasing tours to India should be very careful while on the streets of Indian cities. Tourists are rarely threatened by local residents or even criminals; the police treat tourists more than kindly. In large Indian cities there are even special police departments that deal with all issues and problems of tourists.
The worst threat on the streets of Indian cities is macaques. It’s scary to imagine, but in Delhi alone there are more than 10 thousand of them, although of course, the number of street robbers is difficult to accurately determine, because they multiply quite quickly.
Monkeys in India are a sacred animal, and therefore beating, much less killing, them is strictly prohibited, both for local residents and law enforcement officers. According to Indian beliefs, the macaque is the earthly representative of the deity Hanuman, who is quite revered among Hindus. Moreover, Hindu traditions require treating all sacred animals on Tuesday and Saturday. Which, naturally, Indians do regularly. As a result, monkeys feel more than at ease on the streets of Indian cities.
Despite all the tricks of the tailed robbers, it is useless to complain about them, since the police do not react to their antics, and there are simply no other services in India that deal specifically with monkeys. Fully aware of their impunity, the monkeys are creating real “mayhem” on the streets of Delhi.
Monkeys are primarily interested in food supplies. Therefore, when they see something of interest to the monkeys in the hands of the townspeople, they do not hesitate to attack even people. As a result, the monkeys literally snatch packages, bags and other things from the hands of local residents. Moreover, attacks are rarely limited to the theft of food supplies, because they still need to be reached. And the teeth of Indian macaques are quite sharp. That’s why bags or other things torn to shreds are not uncommon.
Monkeys pay no less attention to bright and shiny objects. Therefore, mirrors and photographic equipment should be used carefully so as not to attract the attention of four-legged primates.
Reports of incidents involving monkeys appear almost regularly. One of the most striking examples of the outrages perpetrated by monkeys was the destruction and disruption wedding ceremony. An Indian wedding is always accompanied by colorful costumes and a wild feast. Similar activity on one of the streets of Delhi attracted the attention of a whole troop of monkeys. As a result, food supplies were practically destroyed, clothes were torn, and the wedding was disrupted, and some guests needed health care, since wounds caused by the teeth and claws of monkeys can be dangerous.
Interestingly, almost everyone suffers from the monkey invasion - government and public institutions, police officers, local residents, as well as tourists. Therefore, while on the streets of an Indian city, you should not once again attract the attention of four-legged animals. And when coming into contact with them, you should be quite careful, as their bites are very unpleasant and painful.
India is a country located in the southern part of Asia, most of it is located on the Hindustan Peninsula. This state washes Indian Ocean, namely its Bay of Bengal and Arabian Bay.
Fauna of India
This country is home to many species of mammals, birds, insects and reptiles. Animal world India is very diverse. The most common fauna here are camels, monkeys, elephants, cows, and snakes.
Camel
These are the most common animals in India, they are mainly used for transporting goods, as well as for riding, in ancient times they even took part in battles.
There are two types of this animal - dromedary and bactrian, that is, one-humped and two-humped. Camels are herbivores. They are able to feed on those desert plants that are not eaten by any other animals. This, for example, An adult animal weighs about 500-800 kilograms, and it lives for 30-50 years. The camel body is very well adapted to survive in the desert. Thanks to the specific shape of red blood cells, a camel can drink an impressive amount of water at one time - 60-100 liters. Thus, the animal makes a supply of fluid, which can last for two weeks. When the camel for a long time does without water, its body gets it by burning fats, and the animal can lose most of its weight. In India, the milk of this animal is often consumed. It has a number useful properties: it contains vitamins C and D, microelements (calcium, magnesium, iron and others). One more positive property The benefit of this product is that it contains very little casein, which makes milk difficult to digest.
Indian elephant
Elephants are also very common animals in India. In addition to the animal that lives in given state and bearing the corresponding name, there is also another species of elephant - the African one. The Indian differs from it in that it has smaller ears and is smaller in size than the African. Another interesting thing is that both males and females have tusks, while in Indians only males have tusks. These animals are the largest land animals (they are surpassed in size only but they live in the ocean). Elephants are used as a means of transportation in the jungle. In India, these animals are very popular because of their docile nature. In addition, elephants often participate in religious celebrations.
Monkey
These are very common animals in India. Species such as macaques, langurs and others live here. Many even live in big cities.
King of Beasts - Indian Tiger
Now there are only 3,200 individuals of this species left on the territory of this state. Many of them live in mangrove forests. Previously, these animals often attacked people, so they were exterminated in large quantities, but hunting tigers is not easy.
What kind of snakes live in India?
On the territory of this state lives on Earth - King Cobra. However, people very rarely suffer from its bites, since it lives far in the forests, hunting small animals there. Much more dangerous to humans are sand faff. The first reaches 1.5-2 meters in length, has a rich yellow color and a dark pattern on the head, which is somewhat reminiscent of glasses, hence the name. The second belongs to the same family with vipers. Its length is small - about 70 centimeters. It's a snake Brown with a zigzag pattern on the sides.
Peacock
Many people associate these birds with Indian culture. They are often found not only in the mythology of a given country, but also in Persian and Islamic legends. Even in Christianity there is a mention of the peacock - it is a symbol of life. This bird is very common in Indian art - both in literature, music, and painting. Peacocks are very common in this state; they live almost everywhere.
What animals are considered sacred in India?
First of all, these are cows. Since ancient times, these are sacred animals of India. They were considered as such in Ancient Egypt. In the mythology of this country, there is a belief that after death you can get to heaven if you swim across the river while holding on to the tail of a cow. This is also due to the fact that the milk of this animal is very often consumed as food. Therefore, the cow is considered a symbol of life.
Another sacred animal of India is elephants. They are considered a symbol of wisdom, kindness and prudence, and are often depicted in homes and on temples. There are also sacred animals of India, which are representatives of certain gods. These are, for example, monkeys - they are considered the incarnation of the god Hanuman, an ally of Rama. Also, in India they are rats. There is even a whole temple dedicated to them - thousands of these animals live there. There is a legend associated with them in India. According to her, Karni Mata was a Hindu saint, and when one of her children died, she began to pray to the god of death Yama to return her son to her, and he turned all her sons into rats. There is also a snake cult in India. According to ancient legends, these animals are the patrons of the waters of the valley. If we turn to mythology, we can find out that snakes are the sons of Kadru. In myths, these animals are described in human images, they are endowed with such traits as wisdom, beauty and strength. In addition, the peacock is also found in Indian mythology - Krishna’s headdress was decorated with its feathers. Temples dedicated to this god are painted with images of this bird.
We continue, friends, to get acquainted with the animal world of India. In this article I want to tell you about another sacred animal of India, revered no less than the Cow - the MONKEY.
In India, monkeys are considered sacred animals. According to an ancient legend, Hanuman (the monkey) stole delicious mangoes from the garden of the mythical giant and gave them to people. The monkey was caught and sentenced to be burned alive, but she managed to put out the fire and survive. While putting out the fire, she burned her face and hands, which remained black. This legend prompted the Indians to classify the monkey as one of the sacred animals, and even living gods. Entire temples are built for them, where they are revered and pampered. And local residents and peasants patiently endure all the mischief that these nimble animals create in gardens and plantations. It is forbidden to hunt monkeys, and the locals 
The inhabitants open their houses wide to them, and their favorite fruits are grown in their gardens.
According to the ancient Indian epic "Ramayana", Hanuman, the son of a monkey and the god of the wind, helped the god Rama defeat his enemies and return his wife Sita, kidnapped by the evil king of the island of Lanka Ravana. Hanuman easily flies across the strait separating India from Ceylon, finds Sita hidden there and returns her to Rama. For his devoted service, Rama showered Hanuman with gifts and awarded him eternal youth.
There is another legend that monkeys helped the god Vishnu. The inhabitants of the country were oppressed by a terrible giant, and Vishnu entered into a fight with him. But, one could not cope with the enemy, then he called on the monkey people for help, and defeated the Giant. That's also why monkeys are sacred animals in India.
Monkeys living in sacred temples are also treated with privileges. Many tourists love to feed the monkeys and take pictures with them. Animals are so accustomed to people feeding them that they brazenly beg people for food, and if they don’t get what they want, they become aggressive and may even bite. The monkeys have become so bold that they climb into houses, spoil things and food, and sometimes even steal small animals. In a year they eat so much food that this amount would be enough to feed 10% of the country's population, approximately 50 million people!!! 
These are heat-loving animals and live mainly in countries with hot climates. In India, there are more than 40 million of them. These are mainly rhesus macaques.
These are thin-bodied monkeys, small in size, with a tail that is longer than its entire body. There is a tassel at the end of the tail. A monkey with yellow-white fur and a black crest pulled over his face in the form of a hood. Because of this black hood, Indians consider the monkey sacred. The weight of these animals ranges from 2.5 to 8 kg. The ears and face are hairless. They feed on ripe fruits, leaves, insects, and do not disdain plantings on agricultural plantations - grains, rice, peanuts, coffee beans and coconuts. A family group of macaques can contain from 3 to 80 individuals!!! The hierarchy of relationships is based on maternal kinship. The herd is ruled by females who remain in the herd until old age. And males, having reached sexual maturity, are forced to leave the herd. Puberty in monkeys occurs at 3–4 years; pregnancy in females lasts about 180 days. As a rule, one, or rarely two, cubs are born, which remain near the mother for up to 1.5 - 2 years.
All monkeys are easily tamed. They live not only in zoos, they are even kept at home. Getting used to people, monkeys often adopt the habits of people and simply amaze with their intelligence and ability to imitate. Tamed, trained monkeys often appear on television and in films. Tamed monkeys are capable of performing various tasks for humans. In Thailand, for example, tame macaques have long helped people in collecting coconuts, and even surpass people in this skill, since people sometimes cannot distinguish a ripe nut from an unripe one, but monkeys do it flawlessly.
They can also provide serious services to botanist scientists when collecting herbariums in the tropics. Easily climbing the highest and thinnest branches of trees, monkeys, at the command of a person, break off and bring him the necessary leaves, branches and flowers. The Singapore Botanic Gardens has a monkey nursery where several animals have acquired the profession of plant hunters. They are capable of impenetrable jungle find rare plants, if you show them a branch or leaf of this plant.
And yet we should not forget that for all their intelligence and ability to imitate people, monkeys do not at all have the same consciousness as humans and are not able to think like humans. The mental activity of animals and their behavior are based primarily on instincts, innate and conditioned reflexes.
Primitive thinking of animals high level intelligence close to human, including monkeys - this is thinking in concrete images, called pre-linguistic. For animals, signal stimuli that cause mental processes in the brain can only be direct stimuli - these are olfactory, visual, sound, taste and thermal influences.
They are so funny, monkeys. But, at the same time, smart, quick-witted and insightful.
It is not for nothing that they are considered the SACRED ANIMALS OF INDIA.
I suggest you, friends, to watch a wonderful cartoon in HD quality based on the ancient Indian epic “Ramayana”.
Many inhabitants post-Soviet space imagine a monkey as a sweet and docile creature. The reason for this is good fairy tales and cartoons from the times of the USSR. Meanwhile, Rudyard Kipling was largely truthful when describing the evil banderlogs.
Thailand has long been particularly popular among Russian-speaking tourists. India has not been far behind in this indicator for some time now. But among the polite Indians and smiling Thais, there are increasingly other local residents who are much less friendly. Active cutting forest areas in these countries has led to the fact that all large quantity monkeys move to cities. Having discovered a good food supply there for themselves and favorable conditions for everyday life and leisure, animals establish themselves in a new territory and begin to reproduce randomly. At the same time, both Thais and Indians traditionally give monkeys a certain sacred status, so there is no talk of shooting emigrants from the jungle. And measures such as sterilization give disappointing results.
Abusing permissiveness, the monkeys of India and Thailand diligently damage public and private property, break television antennas, and gnaw communication wires. Moreover, the researchers noticed that primates are capable of conscious, deliberate hooliganism. In the process of creating nasty things, they act secretly, constantly look around and are ready to give a go. A separate sad topic for conversation is monkey kleptomania. Macaques, monkeys and other furry brethren steal not only food, but also things for human use, which are absolutely useless for animals. Swarms of monkeys stage devastating raids not only on the gardens of villagers, but also on houses and even apartments. There are cases where in India hordes of monkeys literally captured entire villages. It should be noted that while local residents are at least able to repel aggressors, tourists have a much more difficult time in this war. In the first half of 2013, 600 people were injured in monkey attacks in the Thai province of Krabi, including 450 foreign tourists.
The greatest trouble that primates can cause is physical attack. Urban monkeys, naturally, are not capable of ferocious reprisals in the spirit of an angry male gorilla - they are not that strong. But bites or scratches will require serious treatment from the victim: a minimum of tetanus vaccinations. Therefore, tourists should adopt some simple techniques, which, by the way, work great with our quite European dogs. From the main point: do not provoke primates. If your child is accustomed, due to your oversight, to teasing monkeys in the zoo, then keep in mind that in both India and Thailand animals are not fenced off with bars, they walk wherever they want and do whatever they want, disregarding laws, codes and others regulations local administration. Don't smile at cute monkeys! Copying in many ways human facial expressions, primates do not recognize smiles; for them, a smile is a demonstration of teeth, a grin. There is no need to be afraid of excessive monkey attention and run away - for the pack this can be a signal to attack. To drive away the tailed hooligan, sometimes it is enough to take a stick - the monkeys will realize that they are about to be beaten and will go in search of another victim. If a monkey persistently tries to take away the sandwich you recklessly decided to snack on right on the street, a reasonable solution would be to simply give the food back. There are known cases when a lone monkey, trying to take away fruit or chocolate from a tourist, received a slap on the wrist from him and immediately gathered a whole gang of associates with screams. Therefore, do not even think about beating beggars - it is not only unethical, but also dangerous. You should be especially careful if a whole flock led by a leader is interested in you.
Photo: stuartshepherd.co.uk
It happens that insolent monkeys simply surround the tourist and do not allow him passage. In this case, a brave throw of a banana (or any food product) as far and to the side as possible will help. The flock will quickly rush after the prey, and you will be able to retreat quietly. There is also no shame in asking any local passerby for help - primates clearly separate tourists from natives. Some guests in India said that extortion monkeys are especially afraid of the police and will flee the crime scene at the mere sight of an official uniform. It is also a smart idea to follow the warning signs about the dangers of feeding monkeys. Treat one cute animal and you will get several dozen who want to receive no less goodies. And given that the primates are accustomed to the generous gifts of tourists, they will brazenly terrorize any guest of the country for food. Watch your children especially carefully and be always nearby: monkeys can mistake children for play partners, and during such “fun” scratches and even bites are possible.
Photo: isastudentblog.wordpress.com
A lot of work will be required from you to preserve your belongings. Monkeys are not only skillful at stealing on the streets, they can easily break into homes, and they have enough ingenuity to climb into, for example, a refrigerator. Keep in mind, even if you check into a fairly high floor of the hotel, this will not be a hindrance for the monkey. And when you go out onto the balcony of the fifth floor, for example, to admire the morning Delhi, do not be surprised when you come across the demanding gaze of a macaque waiting for you. Thieves confidently open backpacks and bags; a zipper lock is no longer a hindrance for them; they deftly rip off any jewelry from hands and necks. Be prepared to meet monkey criminal groups not only in the middle of a park or boulevard, but also in cafes, supermarkets and even in government offices.
Be careful during a photo shoot: cute monkeys may willingly pose, but then steal the camera as a fee. When going on a city tour, remove all items of clothing that can be grabbed and torn off: belts, waistbands, phone cases, purses. Take care of your hats; monkeys do not wear hats or caps, but do not miss the opportunity to rip them right off their heads. If you wear glasses, be prepared for some monkey to steal them. Women should not use bright and shiny hair clips - monkeys often grab them for unknown purposes. Hold any valuables tightly to you; If the furry villain fails to steal the item using the element of surprise, he will most likely escape. If you use a car when visiting India, leave it in the parking lot, remove the windshield wipers, the antenna and hide everything inside the cabin that the monkeys can tear off - they will definitely try.
Photo: framework.latimes.com
In many countries in the East Asian region, monkeys behave in a decorous and well-mannered manner. But when visiting the cities, resorts and beaches of Thailand and India, be prepared to encounter monkey mayhem. And don't be fooled by appearances: cute and funny animal can cause a lot of trouble.
Photo: thecrowdedplanet.com
