Offering newborn, sick calves to temple a sin, says Minister
[ad_1]
Tourism Minister Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao on Wednesday said it was a ‘sin on the part of devotees to donate sick, newborn and mixed breed calves in a bid to fulfil their vows’ to the Simhachalam temple.
The Minister made the observation after a few incidents were brought to his attention in which some devotees had donated calves that were barely days old to the temple, resulting in their premature death.
Mr. Srinivasa Rao visited the temporary ‘goshala’ (cattle shed), where the donated calves were kept, at Simhachalam, on Wednesday. He offered ‘harathi’ and fed them with bananas.
“Some of these calves are dying due to premature separation from their mother. Some devotees are donating mixed breed calves in a bid to get rid of them, under the pretext of fulfilling their vows of offering the first-born calf of their cow to the deity,” the Minister said.
The Minister said that such things would not be tolerated in the future and a police checkpost would be put up at the ‘toli pavancha’ to deter such persons. The devotees should realise that one does not offer stale food to the deity. Similarly, offering mixed breeds, newborn calves and sick animals to the deity was also reprehensible, he said.
Protecting cows was the responsibility of every citizen but it was unfortunate that some vested interests were trying to politicise the death of cows at the ‘goshala’, the Minister said, calling upon devotees to offer only healthy male calves of ‘native breeds’ as offerings to the temple. He also called for greater coordination between Devasthanam officials, police, revenue and animal husbandry departments to prevent mixed breeds and sick calves being left at the foothills of the temple.
Gopalapatnam CI M. Appa Rao said that checkposts would be set up near the foothill and police personnel would be on duty round-the-clock to prevent abandoning of sick calves at the ‘toli pavancha’.
Executive Officer M.V. Suryakala said that the security staff of the temple would also be posted to prevent such incidents.
[ad_2]
