Although Hindus follow no single set of rules, reverence for cows can be found throughout the religion's major texts.

One of India's most magnificent and endangered animals fulfills its destiny in a remote nature preserve that also shrouds the ruins of a long-fallen empire.

Elephants are sacred animals to Hindus. It is the living incarnation of one of their most important gods: Ganesh, an elephant-headed deity who rides a mouse.