Believe it or not: Now, you can buy cow dung cakes online in India!

During Bakri-Eid, the unthinkable happened- one could buy goats online on the various e-commerce websites.

At that moment, I was of the opinion that was it. That the internet couldn’t possibly have made our lives anymore easier by ensuring we get the option of buying almost everything at the touch of a click.

And, nor did I think in my wildest dreams that almost everything would include cow dung cakes.

Believe it or not, but the latest entrant to the world of internet shopping is cow dung patties. And, they’re selling like hot cakes.

Available widely on e-commerce websites such as Amazon, eBay, ShopClues among others, these cakes are sold in packages containing two to eight pieces and can be bought at anything from Rs 100 to Rs 400, and with discounts, no less.

The patties comprising cow poop mixed with hay and dried in the sun, made mainly by women in rural areas and used to fuel fires — have long been available in India’s villages and are mostly used for fires, heating, Hindu rituals or used in the garden.

Thanks to these online retailers, they’re now finding their way to the ever-increasing urban population for whom accessibility to these cakes are not that easy.

And, surprisingly, customers are lapping them up. The customer reviews on the e-commerce sites highlight how seriously the product is being taken by them.

While Pushkar Bendre in his Amazon review clarifies that the product is indeed ‘shit’, much to the relief of every other potential buyer, he was unable to pinpoint whether it was ‘cow shit or ‘bull shit.’

Not amused by Bendre’s review, another customer who went by the name ‘A B’ requested the seller in his review to add gow mutra (cow pee) as well. He further asked the customers to not mock the listing as cows are sacred. He then proceeded to warn the seller that it should be seen that the cow dung cakes are not destroyed while in transit.

However, a majority of the customers have a common concern- that of authenticity of the ‘cow dung cakes’ and have asked Amazon to provide a guarantee card stating that it is not buffalo dung.