Hindus :We use cows milk or MILK generally in religious abhishekam etc.CAN YOU TELL ME WHY MILK IS WHITE ?

Scripture:

Cows are the foremost of all creatures in all the worlds. It is from cows that the means for sustaining the worlds has established. Cows are auspicious and sacred and the bequeathers of every blessing. Cows benefit humans with milk, yoghurt, cheese, butter and ghee. The Vedas have stated that the milk of a cow is equivalent to ambrosial nectar and that ghee derived from cows milk is the best of all libations poured onto the sacred fires of brahmins.

namo brahmanya-devaya

go-brahmana-hitaya ca

jagad-dhitaya krishnaya

govindaya namo namah

“My Lord, You are the well-wisher of the cows and the brahmanas, and You are the well-wisher of the entire human society and world.”

Comment:

One of the integral part of Krishna is the COW!

COW is god's own creation to sustain mankind!

It is the most sacred of all living species for that very reason!

It is the only animal that benefits mankind without bringing any kind of harm to it! - that truly is a characteristic of GOD himself!

That is why, Cow products are preferred for abhishekam.

The cow's milk is white because of a mixture! It is not a single substance, it is the only liquid which has a bit of living species blood in it. The calcium is a big contributor, but the other major factor is the colloidal nature of the liquid.

Well!!!!!!!

Why Milk is white...

Strcitly Speaking, MIlk is yellowish white!

Milk is made up of 87% water and 13% solids, such as fat and various proteins. The predominant protein present in the Milk is called Casein.

The casein protein micelles are typically suspended somewhat uniformly throughout the milk and are spherical.

White objects in nature appear such when there is some level of light diffusion going on and no part of the visible spectrum gets reflected off the object any more than any other part of that area of the light spectrum. So as you might guess from that, these casein proteins and some of the fats in the milk scatter and deflect light somewhat uniformly throughout the visual spectrum. This results in milk being fairly opaque and appearing white to our eyes.

Next on why Cow's milk is preferred for Abhishekams

I am not so sure..

Milk contains Casein. It's the milk protein that is rich in calcium and it is white. The cream in milk has some fat which is also white. Its presence in the milk makes the milk whiter. Low and non-fat milk has less cream and may appear less white.

Our eyes see white because some objects do not absorb very much light. They reflect the light. Objects that are blue, for instance, reflect only blue light and absorb the other colors of light in the spectrum. The molecules that make up Casein and creme reflect light. That's why milk is white.

There is no scientific meaning attached to Abhishekams. It is just a superstitious act.

Scientific reason of why Milk is white is described by few answerers.

In fact there is no spiritual reason for using Milk in Abhishekam, Puja and other religious purposes.

Earlier men discovered that Milk is tasty, nourishing, beautiful looking and available plenty in nature.

They had accepted the Milk is Best form of liquid available to mankind.

Men always wanted to treat God with best possession. So in all religious functions where Liquid was required they started using Ganges water or Milk.

Additional note to Mr. Nanadi - Its sad to know that Mr. PRR is no more with us. I had few interaction with him in this forum and mails/chats etc. He was a genuine person. May god give him all the peace.

Basically the color of any material is decided by - light of which wavelength falls on it and which colors it would absorb and which other colors it would reflect. This way milk also has its own color under the given ambient light.

Why the materials reflect certain lights? Well it is as simple or as difficult to answer - as for the question - Why salt is salty?

The cow is said to be the highest evolved in animal kingdom...in the spiritual sense...It only knows how to give and will never take anything by force or violence...we human are spiritually evolved from cows...we have evolved from apes...only on the physical sense...not spiritually...Why cows milk is white...? Now that's a science question...we apes are not so educated to give answers... cheers...

Because it is an emulsion of tiny droplets of fat suspended in water.

The droplets scatter and reflect the light, making it appear white.

I have no idea about the "spiritual" aspects.

It has immune-modulator properties, which makes it useful for immune deficiency diseases. In the classics there are many references to cow urine as a drug of choice. Even the Parsis follow this practice.

Lastly, (iv), Gomaya (dung) is considered as valuable as Gomutra and used to purify the environment, as it has radium and checks radiation effects.

Ancient Hindu wisdom on the medicinal properties of cow urine is borne out by two patents granted in the US for cow urine distillate (Patent numbers 6410059 and 6896907).

Even China has granted the distillate a patent as a DNA protector. A global patent has been granted for cow urine, neem and garlic as a pest repellent and for fungicidal and growth promoting properties for different crops (WHO 2004/ 087618A1). A US patent has been granted for strains from Sahiwal cow milk for plant growth promoter phytopathogenic fungi controlling activity, abiotic stress tolerating capability, phosphatic solubilisation capability, etc. And CSIR has filed for a US patent for amrit pani, a mixture of cow dung, cow urine and jiggery, for soil health improvement properties.

These claims were initially made in the Charaka Samhita, Sushrut, Vaghbhati and Nighantu, Ratnakar, etc. They prove the utility of cow dung and urine for sustainable agriculture as well as for disease prevention.

EDIT:- For the first time i agree with Muslim Troll Truth ? that milk should not be wasted on idols it should be used in proper sense by distributing it among Poor kids.

If uou like to do some ritual then one should use 25-50 ML of Milk just for a Token gesture.

The milk is white due presence of casein protein.

It would have been a good question had you asked why milk is being used in "abhishekams". I don't know if that was the intention of your question.

The question about its color is not a religious one but a question for science buffs. You may get good responses if you post this in appropriate section pls.

EDIT

I do not want to indulge in politics here like some of your friends who were thrown out eventually. That is the reason I keep the mail option closed. I come here to answer genuine questions and I will do exactly that. No chatting or gossiping unlike some of you. I don't need lobbying to garner support. I am least interested in such silly matters. Nor do I need to prove my sincerity to anyone. Sarveswaran anyway knows who is sincere and who is not.