Tuesday, February 5, 2019

"Daan Paatra" at Pushkar

Spotted at Pushkar: a collection box (Daan Patra) for Gau Seva (the welfare of cows). A young bull stands next to it, looking quite annoyed with life :)
Holy Cow Container, India -
Rod Waddington from Kergunyah, Australia [CC BY-SA 2.0
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
The cow is depicted with a peacock feather decoration for her horns, indicating the linkage of cows with the cowherd God Krishna of the Braj region. The Braj region (Brajbhoomi) is the land associated with Krishna's birth and major events in his life. While there is no official geographical demarcation, it lies more or less within the golden triangle circuit that is popular with tourists. Pushkar is nearby.

The cow is depicted with auspicious symbols (the Om and the Swastika) on her body. She is adorned with jewellery, denoting her special status. Similar decorations can be seen in many Rajasthani miniatures, particularly the Pichhawai paintings depicting Krishna as a cowherd.