It was while watching the Kannada film Kantara (2022) that we first contemplated about the contradictory perceptions regarding pigs. Although pigs have had both material and religious importance in Indian tradition, it has been simultaneously stigmatised and excluded from mainstream Indian society. People are uncertain whether pig should be completely deified or should be merely used for consumption purposes.
In many parts of India, pigs have been religious and cultural motifs. It is thus astonishing to note that pigs are stigmatized at the same time, as are communities rearing them. The domestication of pigs, along with their symbolic and ritualistic associations, constructs a typology of civic disabilities, reinforcing structural marginalisation within the social system. Unfortunately, these communities are ostracised not only by caste Hindus but also by Muslim communities. For example, the Dom and Dusadh communities traditionally rear pigs, but their occupation has itself become a barrier to their social inclusion.
The cultural positioning of the pig in India is deeply embedded within the institutionalised social organisation of caste, which constructs a binary of purity and pollution. This typology is not an objective reality but a socially constructed hierarchy that reinforces caste-based exclusion and civic disabilities. The status of communities engaged in pig rearing is thus shaped not only by economic function but by their symbolic association with impurity, a categorisation that perpetuates social ostracisation. The cultural politics over symbols labelled the pig to the realm of filth and ferality. This religious and civilisational rhetoric does more than moralise animal symbolism—it legitimises caste hierarchies by embedding them in cosmic and ritualistic frameworks. The pig, unlike the others, is not just an economic entity; it is a marker of caste inferiority, rendering those associated with it as ‘polluted’ and, therefore, socially and politically marginalised. For marginalised communities, pigs serve as a means of production in various forms. They also contribute to waste management, food security, and livelihood strategies in urban, and informal rural settlements. Their presence challenges conventional human-centered narratives of infrastructure and economy, revealing how non-human actors shape urban life in ways that often go unnoticed. Pigs repurpose discarded spaces and materials, turning what is considered waste into a resource. They forage in garbage dumps, open drains, and sewage, deriving nutrition while simultaneously helping with organic waste disposal. Through their bodily labour, they bring waste back into cycles of value, making them crucial to an informal yet essential waste management system. This process not only reduces environmental pollution but also supports pig-rearing households that rely on them for meat, trade, and financial security.
Pigs also adapt to their environment in ways that reinforce their economic significance. Broken sewage pipes or stagnant water sources become cooling and drinking spots, illustrating how pigs integrate into and modify urban and rural landscapes. These interactions highlight the resilience of informal economies, where pigs contribute to both livelihoods and ecological balance, offering an alternative perspective on infrastructure, labour, and economic survival beyond human-centric frameworks.
There has been an emotional attachment towards cattle in India, and their role in shaping contemporary cultural politics is crucial. The scholar Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd has similarly developed a counter narrative of ‘Buffalo nationalism’ within the ambit of Dalit-Bahujan politics. Both cattle and buffaloes certainly have their own importance economically and culturally. But the tragedy is that we have abandoned the role of pigs in shaping our identities.
Why we are not comfortable with the cultural identities associated with pigs? It is a stark reality that the concept of avatar has had great relevance in Hindu religious tradition. Avatar means the incarnation of the Supreme Being on earth in the form of non-human or human actors with the cause of human welfare. Varaha or the boar (Sus scrofa) avatar of Hinduism also incarnated with the same objectives. It is believed that when a demon named Hiranyayaksha hid the earth in the cosmic ocean, the deity Vishnu took the avatar of Varaha and killed that demon and brought out the earth from the cosmic waters again.
From an anthropological perspective, the discussion on boars offers insight into the complex interplay between sacredness and impurity in Hindu cosmology. While domesticated pigs (Sus scrofa domesticus) are often culturally stigmatised and associated with impurity within caste hierarchies, the divine embodiment of the boar complicates these binaries. The Varaha myth, in which Vishnu takes the form of a wild boar to rescue the Earth (Bhudevi) from cosmic disorder, suggests that even creatures associated with filth and wildness can be central to divine restoration.
Émile Durkheim’s concept of time and space as social categories helps frame this paradox. In his conceptual distinction of the sacred and the profane, Durkheim argues that societies construct sacredness not as an inherent quality but as a relational category shaped by collective consciousness. Sacredness is mapped onto time and space through rituals, myths, and social organization. In this framework, the pig occupies different symbolic positions across different temporal and spatial contexts: as Varaha, it is sacred within the mythic-cosmic order, yet in everyday caste society, it is relegated to pollution and untouchability. This distinction underscores how religious narratives both reflect and construct social realities, where dominant caste ideologies selectively venerate certain animal symbols while condemning others.
Thus, the pig’s dual status in Hinduism—as both divine and polluted—reveals the contingent nature of sacredness. It is not fixed but shaped by historical, social, and ritual contexts, reinforcing caste hierarchies while also exposing their inherent contradictions. Understanding this through Durkheim’s lens allows us to see how religious symbolism serves as both a justification for social stratification and a site of potential subversion.
The Varaha avatar was the third incarnation among the 24 avatars of Vishnu. Interestingly, there is no mythological story of the incarnation of a cow or buffalo. This depicts the religious and civilisational importance of pigs or boars. Despite this, the killing and eating pig is the reflection of the contradiction within Indian society; although some scholars hold the view that the swine consumption was mainly mainstreamed in Indian society by the Portuguese.
Pigs are physically highly organised creatures. Its physical structure is unique as compared to most animals. It cannot be killed easily. Special techniques are used to kill them. Perhaps that is why the concept of a deity like Varaha might have been created to make a giant entity like earth come out of the cosmic ocean. Probably, it is a mythological symbol of power and strength too.
Unlike other animals that are protected under religious and state policies due to their association with purity and economic value, pigs are largely excluded from such safeguards. This exclusion reinforces their perception as impure and disposable within social hierarchies, reflecting broader systems that determine which animals and communities are valued. At the same time, government policies and initiatives promote pig farming among marginalised groups as a source of livelihood, framing it as economic progress while maintaining social stigma. This dynamic exposes how labour is exploited under economic policies without addressing deeper social inequalities. The pig’s position—excluded from sacred traditions but embedded in industries like waste management and meat production—highlights how economic systems sustain both profitability and exclusion.
The philosophy of the marginalised is the philosophy of all; it has much possibility towards inclusion of all. In this sense, if a pig becomes one of the agents of Indian politics then it might be prove to be a tool of unification for India’s diverse society. Acceptance of pig is like the acceptance of the oppressed. This way, we can mainstream the marginalised. In both contexts, material and religious, pig/boar manifests a decisive role in Indian traditional economy and religion. The need of the hour is to hold a vast academic discussion on the subject. We need to be more inclusive in embracing our symbols to celebrate both our diversity and the unity of our civilisation.
Keyoor Pathak is Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Allahabad
Dhiraj Kumar is Assistant Professor, Section of Sociology, MMV, Banaras Hindu University
Views expressed are authors’ own and don’t necessarily reflect those of Down To Earth