Editing Cow dung (section)

=== Floor and wall coating ===

In several cultures, cow dung is traditionally used to coat floors and walls. In parts of Africa, floors of rural huts are smeared with cow dung: this is believed to improve interior hygiene and repel insects.<ref>{{cite book |author=Harold Scheub |author-link=Harold Scheub |title=Storytelling Songs of Zulu Women |year=2006 |publisher=[[Edwin Mellen Press]] |isbn=9780773457416 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cJjfAAAAMAAJ |page=256 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Maia Chenaux-Repond |title=Leading from Behind: Women in Community Development in Rhodesia, 1973-1979 |year=2017 |publisher= Weaver Press |isbn=9781779223180 |doi=10.2307/j.ctvh8qzdg.11 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9-cvDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA159 |page=159 }}</ref> This practice has various names, such as "ukusinda" in [[Xhosa language|Xhosa]],<ref name="MN_2015">{{cite book |author=Monde Ndandani |title=Living in a Hut |chapter=A Pick from a "Hut Vocabulary" and Hut-Visitor's Notables |year=2015 |pages=11–18 |publisher=African Sun Media |isbn=9781920689629 |jstor=j.ctv1nzfxfz.6 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iOq9DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA11 }}</ref> and "gwaya" in [[Ruuli language|Ruruuli-Lunyala]].<ref>{{cite book |editor=Saudah Namyalo |title=A dictionary and grammatical sketch of Ruruuli-Lunyala |volume=5 |year=2021 |publisher=Language Science Press |isbn=9783961103294 |doi=10.5281/zenodo.5548947 |hdl=20.500.12657/52582 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SXhMEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA274 |page=274 |author1=Saudah Namyalo |last2=Witzlack-Makarevich |first2=Alena |last3=Kiriggwajjo |first3=Anatole |last4=Atuhairwe |first4=Amos |last5=Molochieva |first5=Zarina |last6=Mukama |first6=Ruth |last7=Zellers |first7=Margaret }}</ref>

Similarly, in India, floors are traditionally smeared with cow dung to clean and smoothen them.<ref name="JPD_2023"/> [[Purananuru]], generally dated 150 BCE,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Zvelebil|first=Kamil|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=degUAAAAIAAJ&q=info:3mNeiVqlnhoJ:scholar.google.com/&pg=PR9|title=The Smile of Murugan: On Tamil Literature of South India|date=1973|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-03591-1|language=en}}{{pn|date=November 2024}}</ref> mentions women of Tamil Nadu smear cow dung on the floors at the 13th day after her husband's death to purify the house.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.poetrynook.com/poem/purananuru-part-249 | title=Poem: Purananuru - Part 249 by George L. III Hart }}</ref> Italian traveler [[Pietro Della Valle]], who visited India in 1624, observed that the locals - including Christians - smeared floor with cow dung to purify it and repel insects.<ref>{{cite book |editor=Edward Grey |title=Travels of Pietro Della Valle in India |volume=1 |year=2010 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781108014939 |page=87 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GAewGKxcLp4C }}</ref> [[Tryambaka-yajvan|Tryambaka]]'s ''[[Strī-dharma-paddhati]]'' (18th century), which narrates a modified version of the ''[[Mahabharata]]'' legend about how the goddess [[Lakshmi]] came to reside in cow dung, instructs women to make their homes pure and prosperous by coating them with cow-dung.<ref name="JL_1989"/> Many among modern generations have challenged this practice as unclean.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Susan S. Wadley |title=From Sacred Cow Dung to Cow 'shit' : Globalization and Local Religious Practices in Rural North India |journal=Journal of the Japanese Association for South Asian Studies |volume=12 |year=2000 |pages=1–28 |doi=10.11384/jjasas1989.2000.1 |s2cid=129818093 |url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jjasas1989/2000/12/2000_12_1/_pdf/-char/en |access-date=2023-02-24 }}</ref>

In 2021, the Government of India's [[Khadi and Village Industries Commission]] launched the Khadi Prakritik paint, which has cow dung as its main ingredient, promoting it as an eco-friendly paint with anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties.<ref>{{cite news |title=India's first 'eco-friendly' cow dung paint launched; know all about it here |date=2021-01-13 |publisher=Indian Express |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/life-style/nitin-gadkari-launches-india-first-eco-friently-cow-dung-paint-7144973/ |access-date=2023-02-24 }}</ref>