Krishna stands smiling in the middle of cattle

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The temple doors of Krishna opened. Shankari looked at the temple and shook her head in excitement. Shankari, a calf, gets excited as the door to the sub-temple of Lord Krishna at the Elamkulam Sree Mahadeva Temple opens. Everyone, especially children, who comes to worship Lord Krishna will adore Shankari. Four-month-old Shankari jumps out of the cowshed when she gets a chance. She then runs around the temple and plays with the children. Shankari and mother Gayatri are staying right in front of the temple. Gayatri is a Vechur cow. Close by is Malavika of the Punganur breed, Nandini is a Krishna Valley cow and Urmila is her calf. All three breeds of cows are short in height.

This is a rare temple with cowsheds on all four sides adjacent to the temple. Local cows of different states are here. A total of 14 cows including calves. In the right cowshed are Gyr cows Lakshmi, Parvati and Gauri and a calf named Pournami. Long ears are their characteristic. Behind is Ganga the Sahiwal cow and Arunima of the Kapila breed and Bhanu the calf. Durga of the Kankrej variety and the calf Shambhu stay in the left goshala. Kankrej breed has big horns.

It was during the devaprashnam for temple restoration that there was a proposal to have a cowshed around the Krishna temple. All the cows were donated by the devotees. The deity of the temple is the 12-year-old Gopalakrishnan with a whip.

Price up to 5 lakhs

Breed---------- state of origin---------- approx price

Punganur---------------- Andhra Pradesh---------- 5 lakhs
Gyr ---------------------- Gujarat----------------- 1.50 Lakhs
Krishna Valley------------ Karnataka------------- 50,000
Sahiwal -------------------Punjab--------------- 43,000
Kapila -------------------- Kerala -----------------65,000
Kankrej ------------------- Rajasthan--------------50,000
Vechur-------------------- Kerala----------------- 1.25 lakhs

'There is gow pooja and gow oot here. It is believed that gow pooja is best for all prosperity. The 1200-year-old temple was renovated in five and a half years. It was opened for devotees on March 9.'

TS Sreejith,
President of the Governing Body