Vayu , the Hindu God of wind has an antelope as his vahana . Its ability to run swiftly has probably led to this association with the wind God.The animal is also the vahana of Chandra , the Hindu moon-God.

The blackbuck is held sacred by the Bishnoi tribes of Rajasthan. They consider it a sin to kill these animals. Many men of the sect have died protecting these and women have even breast-fed the antelopes.