Given the growing importance of conservation and preservation of animals and other species, the purpose of the chapter is to present a review of literature around the subject. The search engine Google Scholar has been used for searching the most cited paid and unpaid articles based on chosen keywords. A total of 250 documents represented the population size, in which only 80 were found cited and relevant for the study, though only sixty-six were finally selected due to certain constraints. Key themes from the literature focus on varying cruelty-conservation paradox as a religious belief and consequences for pilgrimage, fairs, festivals, and special events have been highlighted. This chapter is a collection and compilation of fact-finding evidence with paradoxical features. Understanding these features has twofold aspects, viz. identifying new and allied segments for future pilgrimages and seeking a background for research on sustainable pilgrimage linking ancient religious inscriptions recognizing animal welfare with the most modern SDGs.
TopIntroduction
It has been common in almost all communities and cultures for companion animals, or pets, to share living quarters with people around the world (Savishinsky, 1983; Serpell, 1987, 1996; Gray &Young, 2011). While attachment theory exhibits emotional relationships between the infant and caregiver (Bowlby, 1958; Ainsworth & Bowlby, 1991), social support theory exhibits evidence that humans with good social connections are healthier and that there are significant medical outcomes of loneliness (Lynch, J.J., 1977; 2000; South, et al., 2011). The concept of animal sacrifice in any religion is believed to have been inhibited in this pain of sacrificing the most near and dear ones. On the other hand, social support theory suggests and strengthens a human-animal bonding of coexistence since the primitive age.
In Islam, the sacrifice of animals is accepted as a complete obedience and demonstration of submission from the morning of the 10th to the sunset of the 13th Dhual-Hijjah, the 12th lunar month of the Islamic calendar. In Hinduism, animal killing on specific occasions in most of the Shakti temples is based on faith and belief that it stimulates her violent vengeance against the buffalo demon. Similarly, different types of animals or birds are sacrificed, the slaying of goats, chickens, pigeons, ducks, fishes, male water buffalos and such other animals are sacrificed in different religions (Fuller, C.J,2004). In Bhutan and remote Sikkim Himalaya, animal sacrifice was in vogue in Bonism and shamanism during the pre-Buddhist period (Erschbamer,2019; M.,Palni, L., 2019; Roy, M., 2020). As winter spreads across the country, people move from their residences to mountains, caves, ruined houses, streams and giant trees to worship their local deities, mostly associated with animal sacrifice. With the acceptance of Buddhism, the practice of killing animals is now replaced by offerings of joints and cuts of meat (ShaNga-not a fresh or sacrificed meat but naturally dead animal’s meat).
The 23rd Tirthankara Parswanath accelerated Jainism and Ahimsa in the 9th century BC which raised voices in favor of animal rights in religious practices on the Indian subcontinent. Also, the Dravidian philosopher Valluvar in his Tirukkural emphasized and invoked Ahimsa(tolerance) and moral vegetarianism at individual level. Interestingly, the Parsees or Parsis, one of the oldest extant ethnoreligious groups of the Asian subcontinent practicing Zoroastrianism, perform their funerals dedicated mostly to birds and animals. A dog is essential in the funeral process because it can see death and the body is taken to the tower of death where the vultures feed on it.