Satyam Shivam Sundaram Gau Nivas conducts Annakut

South India’s biggest Goushala (cow shelter), Satyam Shivam Sundaram Gau Nivas located in three-acres of land and home to about 4500 cows rescued from slaughter houses organised a Grand Annakut Celebration here at its premises at Peddammagadda, Gaganpahad in the city on Sunday.

Giving details Dharam Raj Ranka of Satyam Shivam Sundaram Gau Nivas said that the Annakut festival is celebrated at the beginning of each Year, where a variety of food items prepared with love and devotion are offered to God. Thousands of devotees are expected to participate in the celebrations.

Dharam Raj Ranka added that although the literal meaning of ‘Annakut’ is ‘mountain of food’, it symbolises an offering of food made with love and devotion to God. As part of the Diwali celebrations Hindus around the world cook a variety of different vegetarian items of food, snacks, sweets, pickles and delicacies as offerings to God.

Traditionally Annakut symbolised devotion through offering the first harvest and distributing this to all. South India’s biggest and India’s best maintained ‘Gou Shala’ Satyam Shivam Sundaram (SSS) Gau Nivas gives a new meaning to the concept of cow protection. Where cows who just escaped from the jaws of death, get a decent life.

It has been established by Dharam Raj Ranka, a 77 years old man with a mission to protect India’s most revered animal ‘Cow’. Ranka has fully dedicated his life for the cause of Cow Protection. He is the pioneer of Gou Shala Concept in twin cities and has been instrumental in setting up several Gou Shalas. Earlier he spearheaded the movement against slaughter houses such as Al-Kabeer.

Employing about 300 workers, about 40 tonnes of Kutti and 120 tonnes of green grass a day is fed to the animals sheltered at the SSS Gau Nivas. The monthly fodder bill along runs into a few lakhs. To take care of these 4300 animals’ health, few veterinary doctors and a hospital is housed at the cow shelter. No cow is milked, nor any is any business done with their milk. The total milk is left to the calf’s.