Loading
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Vimeo
  • Youtube
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Amma-app
  • Skype
Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi
Amma, Mata Amritanandamayi Devi
  • MotherPage
  • Amma
  • International
  • Teachings
  • Activities
  • Ashram
  • Yatra
  • Mobile App
  • News
  • Visit Amritapuri
  • Search
  • Menu

Gopuja

You are here: Home / Activities / Cultural & Spiritual Activities / Gopuja

Gopuja, Cow worship

Sri Krishna Jayanthi day will be a full day of festivities, beginning with the GoPuja, or worshiping of the cows. Though now a sprawling ashram complex, almost like a small city, Amritapuri had about as humble a beginning as one could imagine – as a cowshed! The Kalari, the original ashram temple, was where Amma’s family used to house their cows, before Amma began to hold Devi and Krishna Bhava there.

gopua1

Always a favourite among devotees, the GoPuja reminds us of the important role the cow, symbolic of the mother, plays in our lives. It’s an opportunity for us to show our appreciation and reverence for her. While possessing a beautiful spiritual symbolism and deep universal significance, cow worshiping might seem like a strange notion for those not raised in the Indian culture. But, as with most things spiritual, one must sincerely attempt to peel back the protective skin if one wants to get to the sweet fruit inside. Here is a creature that takes so little from nature – just some quiet grazing in the fields – and is abundantly generous in return. It takes those which we dont want, and gives the most precious things. It is easy to conceive of worshiping the cow if one can first understand love. If love is there, we are naturally inspired to serve. This service itself is worship! As Amma has said, when we truly love, each action spontaneously becomes a worship.

This day, Ashram’s cows, wearing garlands of yellow flowers, and with their bodies decorated with vibhuti and kumkum, were led out from their shed.

The cows were led out to the to the steps of the main temple, accompanied by a procession singing Krishna bhajans. Immediately, those around began to lovingly pet and caress them, speaking soft words of gratitude and offering various forms of praise, such as bowing their heads with folded hands and chanting scriptural verses. This is a moment to personally thank the cow for all that she selflessly gives us, honouring her as our mother.

gopuja2

People will hand-feed the cows, one by one, with a small bunch of plantains. It was very touching to see the sincerity in their reverence for the gentle creatures taking food from their hands. And the cows seemed to return the sentiment by sincerely revering the plantains!

There they were honoured once again by more bhajans, and showered with flower petals and holy water. Ashram pujaris waved incense and an arati lamp, and applied sandal paste and kumkum to their foreheads, accompanied by scriptural chants. Finally, the cows were each once again showered with flower petals, and fed more plantains.

Although brief and simple this beautiful ceremony reminds us that we derive all sustenance from our Mother, in whatever form She comes, whether as our birth mother, our cow-mother, or our Divine Mother.

  • Milestones
  • Cultural & Spiritual Activities
    • Amrita Keerti Puraskar
    • Brahmasthanam temples
    • Sannyas Initiation
    • Brahmacharis
    • Mantra Initiation
    • Living Upanishad
    • Women Priests
    • Revolutionizing Pujas
    • Lalita Sahasranama Archana
    • IAM Meditation
    • Bhajans
    • Literature
    • Lighting the Lamp
    • Amrita Kutumbam
    • 16 Samskaras
    • Gopuja
    • AYUDH
    • Everyday is a Festival
    • in Her Footsteps
  • Nature Care
    • Amala Bharatam Campaign (ABC)
    • Amrita Plastic Project
    • Amrita Vanam
    • Composting
    • Em: Effective Micro Organisms
    • Green Friends
    • Harita teeram
    • inDeed campaign for Nature harmony
    • Sacred Groves
    • The Ecology Centre
    • Tulasi Garden
    • Waste Management
  • Educational
    • Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham
    • Amrita Educational Institutions
    • Research at Amrita – one of the best in the country
    • Village Resource Centers
    • Jan Shikshan Sansthan
  • Health Care
    • Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences
    • Telemedicine at Amrita Institute
  • Disaster Relief
    • UtharKhand flood 2014
    • Jammu Kashmir flood 2014
    • Karnataka flood 2013
    • Bihar Flood 2008
    • Katrina 2005
    • Asian Tsunami 2004
    • Gujarat Earthquake 2001
  • Social Welfare Activities
    • Amrita Kuteeram – A Free Housing Project for the Poor
    • Amrita SREE – Women Empowerment
    • Financial aid for life
    • Japanese International Volunteers of University Students Association – IVUSA
    • Orphanage
    • Self-Reliant Villages (Amrita SeRVe)
    • Vidyamritam: educational scholarship

Amrtapuri Telegram

Install the Telegram app. Then click the link t.me/Amritapuri & send a message with your #name.

Subscribe eMail newsletter

Amritavani

Email:               

Recent Posts

  • When we recognize the goodness in another person, that helps to awaken the goodness in ourselves.
  • Amma’s vision is one of forgiveness, mutual understanding and love
  • We are truly in front of Devi
  • Whether we laugh or cry, days will pass by. Why not choose laughter
  • Every time her embrace surprises us, comforts us, wraps us in her sweetness
  • “Amma, when you put joy in a human heart, it is forever”
  • We will walk with you and work together to bring knowledge
  • Amma – A role model for decision-makers in politics and business
  • The eyes of eternity and faces flickering with love and innocence
  • Amma a beacon in a world which faces huge challenges
  • We need you to make the world a much better place
  • Every time that you embrace a human soul, it is felt everywhere in the world

RSS AmmaChimes

  • Amma's darshan over @Amritapuri 7 December 2019
  • भारतीयः ગરીબો પ્રત્યે સહાનુભૂતિ https://amrit.am/2OZvjvK  7 December 2019
  • MotherPage: When we recognize the goodness in another person, that helps to awaken the goodness in ourselves. https://amrit.am/2OVSerA  7 December 2019
  • Amma started darshan at Amritapuri 7 December 2019
  • भारतीयः ஆன்மீகம் என்பது என்ன என்று தெரிந்துகொள்ளாமல் சாதனை செய்வதால் அகங்காரமும், கோபமும்தான் மிஞ்சும் https://amrit.am/2OYr2bH  7 December 2019
  • MotherPage: Amma’s vision is one of forgiveness, mutual understanding and love https://amrit.am/2LxopvA  6 December 2019

RSS Amma Says

  • Happy #Diwalipic.twitter.com/YaZOjR1HJg
  • If all of us can light the lamp of faith and love in our hearts and walk forward together, then we definitely can bring about a change in society. - Amma #Diwali #Deepotsav2019 #Deepavalipic.twitter.com/0JJ0ajw32D
  • This universe keeps flowing, following its own rhythm, harmony and tune. Thus, human beings need to chart the path of their lives according to the tune and rhythm of Nature. Otherwise, life will automatically become a battle. - #Ammapic.twitter.com/MZeKVr0Hcb
  • But if the parents fail to cultivate spiritual values in the child as well, it may end up spending its entire life in tears. It is spiritual values that give children the strength to face and overcome all sorrows and hardships in life. - #Amma 2/2 #awareness
  • Parents need to cultivate awareness of dharma in their children from a very young age. Many parents today just put a smartphone in their child’s hand as soon as it starts crying. This may momentarily help stop the child’s tantrum. 1/2pic.twitter.com/DmZdRDSldC

Connect with Amma

  • Amrita University
  • Amrita World
  • Amma USA
  • Amma Europe
  • Amrita Hospital
  • Indian Languages
  • Embracing the World
  • Clean India
  • Ashram Diary
  • Amrita SeRVe
  • Amritavani
  • IAM Meditation
  • AYUDH India
  • AYUDH Europe
  • AYUDH America
  • Gitamritam

Follow Amma

  • tw Amritanandamayi
  • fb MataAmritanandamayi
  • Instagram
  • tw Amma Chimes
  • fb Amritapuri
  • tw Amritapuri
  • Amma Mobile App
  • Telegram
Mata Amritanandamayi Math. all rights reserved - ॐ
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Vimeo
  • Youtube
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Amma-app
  • Skype
  • eServices
  • Terms of Use
  • Contact Us
  • Sitemap
Scroll to top