Spiritual heads of various mutts demanded that the government identify cow as national animal in the place of tiger while addressing a national conference on glory of Gomatha known as Vande Gomataram at Mahati Auditorium in Tirupati on Saturday.
Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams’ (TTD) Sri Venkateswara Gosamrakshana Trust is holding the three-day seminar in association with Sri Bhashyakara Charitable Trust, Chennai. Head of Peshawar mutt, Udipi, Sri Viswesh Theertha Swamiji, who inaugurated the conference, said that cow is secular while reminding that it has no caste or religious reservations while giving its milk.
The swamiji pointed to the special bond between lord of Seven hills, Lord Venkateswara and Kamadhenu (celestial cow) which used to provide milk the lord everyday when the lord took the incarnation as Srinivasa. Sri Prasanna Venkatachariar Chaturvedi swamiji of Ramanuja mission Chennai questioned the rational behind selecting tiger as national animal while stressing the need to replace it with cow. "We have peacock as national bird instead of vulture and lotus as national flower instead of cactus why cow not cow in the place of tiger," the seer questioned. Taking strong objection towards cow slaughter, he lamented that there are 350 legal and over 30,000 illegal slaughter houses in the country. "It is not slaughter of cow it is slaughter of our culture and heritage," the seer asserted. He advocated the need for a cow policy and a Panch Sheel to protect the cows. Adopt a cow, establish vigilance committees after providing communication equipment and place them on the way to slaughter houses to prevent the cattle reach the place. Make documentaries to send the message across on the holiness of the cow to create awareness against the menace, the seer said. He donated Rs 1 lakh to the TTD towards cow welfare scheme out of Rs 5 lakh he promised before.
Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams’ (TTD) Sri Venkateswara Gosamrakshana Trust is holding the three-day seminar in association with Sri Bhashyakara Charitable Trust, Chennai. Head of Peshawar mutt, Udipi, Sri Viswesh Theertha Swamiji, who inaugurated the conference, said that cow is secular while reminding that it has no caste or religious reservations while giving its milk.
The swamiji pointed to the special bond between lord of Seven hills, Lord Venkateswara and Kamadhenu (celestial cow) which used to provide milk the lord everyday when the lord took the incarnation as Srinivasa. Sri Prasanna Venkatachariar Chaturvedi swamiji of Ramanuja mission Chennai questioned the rational behind selecting tiger as national animal while stressing the need to replace it with cow. "We have peacock as national bird instead of vulture and lotus as national flower instead of cactus why cow not cow in the place of tiger," the seer questioned. Taking strong objection towards cow slaughter, he lamented that there are 350 legal and over 30,000 illegal slaughter houses in the country. "It is not slaughter of cow it is slaughter of our culture and heritage," the seer asserted. He advocated the need for a cow policy and a Panch Sheel to protect the cows. Adopt a cow, establish vigilance committees after providing communication equipment and place them on the way to slaughter houses to prevent the cattle reach the place. Make documentaries to send the message across on the holiness of the cow to create awareness against the menace, the seer said. He donated Rs 1 lakh to the TTD towards cow welfare scheme out of Rs 5 lakh he promised before.
From Deccan Chronicle
By Samachar Bharati
Andhra Pradesh
