In the Hindu religion, the cow (Sanskirt: go) is closely associated with the god, Vishnu in his incarnation as Krishna, who became a cowherd. Cows provide essentials for daily life: food (milk), lamp oil (browned butter), fuel (dried manure) and medicine (urine). (Urine is often mixed with oil, honey or herbs for traditional treatments, including elephantitis). Moreover, all of the cow's five products - milk, curds, ghee butter, urine and dung - are used in worship as well as in rites of extreme penance. Historically, oxen and bulls were sacrificed to the gods and their meat was eaten, but the slaughter of milk-producing cows was prohibited. Around the 6th century B.C., Hindus stopped eating beef and the cow became more revered. Much later, the popularity of the Krishna stories further reinforced the cow's sanctity. The cow remains a protected animal in Hinduism today, and Hindus do not eat beef. Most rural Indian families have at least one dairy cow, often considered a member of the family though not necessarily well treated. However, once a year on Gopastami (the "Cow Holiday"), cows are washed, decorated and given offerings to ensure their productivity. The decoration can include coloring their horns with turmeric, anointing their foreheads, putting crowns on their heads and marking their bodies with hand prints. This small statue of a mother cow, originally decorated with pigments - red on her horns, tongue and necklace, black outlining her eyes - speaks to the cow's honored role as a source of nourishment.