Volunteers of the Rajasthan Samaj chose to celebrate the auspicious occasion of Akshaya Tritiya by serving sweets to abandoned cows in a shelter outlying the city.
About 500 cows, forsaken for their lack of “market value”, are under the care at the shelter in Reddichavadi en route to Cuddalore.
On Sunday, Samaj volunteers transported 450 kg of jaggery-sweetened ragi halwa to the ‘goshala’.
“It has been a tradition for several years for our members to serve this sweet offering on special occasions such as this, Diwali, Holi or even on birthdays of our members. The cows are simply fond of the halwa,” a volunteer said.
“We hold the cow sacred. In fact, before we begin a meal, a morsel is kept apart as a symbolic obeisance,” he said.
The Samaj, which has over 250 members, including many who settled in the city for four decades or more, has been contributing in many ways to the cow shelter for more than five years.
The Askhaya Tritiya feeding was organised on a donation by industrialist-members of the Samaj S. B. Choudhary and Jagdish Porwal.
The cow shelter is one of the projects of the Shri Jaymal Jain Parshva Padmodaya Research Foundation. The animals are mostly abandoned for lack of any commercial worth or those that pick up an injury and end up on the street. Apart from taking care of the feeding needs of the cows, vet visits are also arranged to ensure the health of the animals.
