Vegetarianism and religion
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The practice of vegetarianism is strongly linked with a number of religious traditions worldwide. These include religions that originated in India, such as Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Tao
A vegetarian thali from Rajasthan, India. Many Indian religions promote vegetarianism and Indian cuisine has a wide variety of vegetarian food.
The food choices of Jains are based on the value of ahimsa (non-violence), and this makes the Jains prefer food that inflicts the least amount of violence.
North Indian style vegetarian thali
South Indian style vegetarian thali
Indian religions
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Indian religions, also known as Dharmic religions, are the religions that originated in the Indian subcontinent. These religions, which include Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism and faiths based on
From top to bottom, from left to right: the Om (Hinduism), the Dharmachakra (Buddhism), the Jain Prateek Chihna (Jainism) and the Khanda (Sikhism) are the symbols commonly used to represent the four major Indian religions.
"Priest King" of Indus Valley Civilisation
The Pashupati seal, showing a seated and possibly ithyphallic figure, surrounded by animals.
A statue of Gautama Buddha from Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh, India, 4th century CE.