Settlers from afar
Five years ago, Lakshmi, Saraswati, and Gayatri, three cows of the Gir breed, travelled from Melkote to a small goshala at The Satsang Foundation (TSF) Goshala at The Sacred Grove, Chowdepalle. Lakshmi, who was expecting at the time of arrival, delivered Surabhi, a female calf within a few days of arrival.
New beginnings
In September 2020, a Goshala was built at the Madanapalle Ashram. Both the Goshalas at Chowdepalle and Madanapalle received cows of the Gir, Sahiwal, and Rathi breeds, and transformed into full-fledged sanctuaries for cows of indigenous origin.
Serene sanctuaries
At the Madanapalle Ashram, 9 cows, bulls, and calves live in a garden of Bilva trees, surrounded by walls painted with stories from The Ramayana in Warli style while the 16-20 cows, calves, and bulls at Chowdepalle are housed on a 3-acre campus, a spacious grazing ground for these gentle bovines. The male calves are part of government-supported breeding programs and are also given to farmers for traditional ploughing.
Go-Palan at its best
These sacred spaces have come to form a symbiotic relation with organic farming, ArogyaM an Ayurveda centre, and Santrupti a Pakashala that provides nutritious meals to guests at The Sacred Grove. Plans are underway to start producing cow-dung-based items like dhoop, sambrani cups, and pots, and to set up a cold-pressed oil unit powered by bulls. These projects will integrate with other organic practices and serve as models for nearby communities to encourage Go-Palan or protection of indigenous cows.
This Janmashtami, we ask for your support.
You may contribute towards a corpus fund for maintenance and running the Goshalas or you may choose to adopt a cow, bull, or a calf and support its nutrition, medical care, and labour intensive care.
Your contributions will help us maintain these safe havens and expand the Goshala initiative.
To know more about the Goshala initiative, please write to us at connect@satsang-foundation.org.
