Ever held cow dug in your hands?

Actually, yes. When I was a child, the courtyard of our ancestoral home used to be smeared with cowdung before the harvest. The workers would then spread the dung with their feet. I could witness this only once in 3-4 years when I would be in India for a vacation (before the harvest). I have held the dung in my hand then and even helped with the smearing. Later on, a broom was used to spread the cow dung. Even during the festival of Onam, a small lemon-sized cow dung was spread in a circle before the floral decoration was laid on it.

No, Bala, I have not. This post oozes out the true essence of an indian village, that is so beautiful. I have heard that cow dung , beside having a cementing attribute, is an excellent antiseptic as well. Probably the smearing helps to keep bay insects and flies, that is an integral part of India. How boring was that, Bala?

Well dear Bala...if you wanna tell me that house is clean...I would rather tell you that house is full of dung! ha ha There is no way you are getting me to step even near that dung house! I am sure I could smell it a mile away if they do it once a week. As for holding it in my hands? Forget it! I have enough dung in my life that I don't need to add cow dung to it!

I've only held it in my hands, or had it on my body in any way, on accident. I have however fallen in or picked up cow dung by accident, since I did live in rural areas where there were cows. I can't imagine actively using cow dung for such uses as you suggest, since I'm not fond of the smell of it.

That is so gross. There is just no way I would be able to put that stuff on my floor. I have Allergies and Asthma. My nose is very sensitive. That would cause me to have an asthma attack. There hast to be a better way to clean the floor.

Hello Bala...o yes i have infact it was a 'special' treat during childhood! and when i go to the village to my grandparents home they still use it. and what about the 'kolam' that we draw? I remember so many summer evening spent on drawing kolam on freshly applied cow dung..o those blissful childhood day :)

This is done with the mud floors only in villages . I have done that many times...just to get the experience its fuun..:P we all friends actualy played with that cow dung!!! he he he !! You find it yuck but its ok with us as long as we are having fun..!! But after that we smeeled very badly for atleast two hours ..!!!! ha ha ha Village is life fun sometimes. I used to visit my village in my summer holidays but now as I am in higher studies now I don't have the time to visit my village like I used to to before.. I miss my village a lot. :(

hello bala. And no, i never had that kind of experience. But I've seen lots of cow dung. In the area where we live, it's a subdivision, but located in a rural area. So, you can often see groups of cows, looking for grass to eat on. This was a very good information you have provided. I'm just curious. Why do they sprinkle cow dung outside their houses, for what purpose?