Hindu temples ban new £5 note over 'animal fat'

A number of Hindu temples have banned the new £5 note after it emerged they contain animal fat.

Satish Sharma from the National Council of Hindu Temples UK told BBC Asian Network he is aware of three temples which aren't allowing the new notes. "I think temples have a responsibility to maintain a certain standard of Dharmic principles. Any temple which wanted to go along and ban the £5 note wouldn't be acting in any matter which was inconsistent," he said.



On the website for the National Council of Hindu Temples UK it states, "From the Hindu and Dharmic perspective, producing currency and casually incorporating substances which are derived from acts of violence upon vulnerable non-aggressive creatures is not the behaviour of civilised beings."

"It is not something easily countenanced by Hindus and we feel the pain of the creatures who were killed in this process."



"The £5 note ceases to be a simple medium of exchange but becomes a medium for communicating pain and suffering and we would not want to come into contact with it."

Satish Sharma added, "I'm aware of three temples all of which have made the same decision. I'm fairly confident their committees are having conversations, discussions with their priests and with their spiritual guides and also with the congregations who attend the temples."



Vegans and religious groups were also not happy when it was revealed there is tallow, a type of animal fat, in the notes. Rainbow Cafe in Cambridge is one of the cafés refusing to accept the notes.

Since the "bendy" notes were introduced into circulation by the Bank of England in September, more than 120,000 people have signed a petition calling for the tallow to be removed.

The bank has said its supplier was working on "potential solutions" to the issue of animal fat in its new £5 notes.

This article originally appeared on BBC