Gai Puja, Goru Puja being observed today

KATHMANDU: Gai Puja or cow worship, Goru Puja or ox worship are being observed throughout the country today on the third day of the five-day-long Tihar festival celebrated by the Hindu people in the country.

The cow is revered as mata or mother by Hindus and is sacred for them. Modern science has also proved that indigenous breeds of cows abosorb the energy from the sun and the moon in their hump which is transmitted through milk to humans.

The cows are fed with sweets and delicacies as part of the Gai Puja rituals. There is the tradition of tying the sacred thread that is tied around one’s wrist on the occasion of the Janai Poornima festival on the tail of the cow while performing Gai Puja. It is believed that doing so the cow would help the person’s soul cross the Baitarani River, a mythical river, to heaven, after the person’s death.