Gau Mata
Cow is the source of progress and prosperity. In many ways it is superior to one’s mother.
Mahatma Gandhi
Cow is a colloquial (familiar) term for cattle, and the name of female cattle. It’s the most common type of domesticated mammal and is raised as livestock for many reasons including: milk, cheese and other dairy products. It is a fully-grown four-legged herbivorous mammal belonging to the Bos Taurus species and subfamily Bovinae. The mature male of the species is called a ‘bull’, a group of cows is called a ‘herd’, a young female cow is called a ‘heifer’, and a baby cow is called a ‘calf’. Cows are ruminants spending over 8 hours a day chewing their cud which is regurgitated, partially digested food.
In earlier times, cows were used for the purpose of ploughing field and pulling carts. In some countries such as India, cows are classed as sacred animals and are used in religious ceremonies and treated with much respect. India, Brazil, and China are said to have approximately one third of the world’s global stock of cows which was estimated to be one billion in the year 2016. Cows are the prime source of milk consumed by people and therefore are termed as the ‘foster mothers of the human race”. They cover a unique place in the human history and are considered to be the oldest forms of wealth. They have always amazed the human kind with their ability to provide milk, work on fields and reproduce with grass being their main diet.
