Vegetarianism in History –
The earliest records of vegetarianism found as a concept and practice amongst a significant number of people from ancient India and Greek civilisation in Southern Italy and in Greece in the 6th century. In both instances the diet was closely connected with the idea of non-violence towards animals and was promoted by religious groups and philosophers.
Vegetarian Organization –
In 1847 the first Vegetarian Society was founded in England. Germany, the Netherlands and other countries followed. The International Vegetarian Union, a union of the national societies, was founded in 1908. In the Western world, the popularity of vegetarianism grew during the 20th century as a result of nutritional, ethical, and more recently, environmental and economic concerns. Since, 1971 the American vegetarian movement grown rapidally and it gave birth to many adovocacy organizations to promote vegetarianism and animal rights.
Vegetarian India –
Today, Indian vegetarians are estimated to make up more than 70% of the world's vegetarians. They make up 20–42% of the population in India.
Many people have misconception that, all Hindu people are vegetarian due to religious reason but, it’s not true. Almost 80 percent of Hindu people are not vegetarian because Hinduism has not been against animal sacrifice. "Lord Krishna while listing the types of devotees based on the kind of offering / kind of rituals one performs it categorises them into (1) Satvic (peaceful, compassionate and calm), (2) Rajasic (aggressive and restive) and (3) Tamasic devotees (very selfish and not concerned about hurting others for one's own joy) based on the Sankalpa (intention), Devatha invoked (name and form of the god invoked), offering to the Lord and the method of prayer.” - Quoted from The Hindu, Sep 09, 2003. So, in ancient period Buddhism and Jainism kind of strictly vegetarian religion developed in India due to failure and complexities of Hinduism.
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