Gangatiri is an indigenous cattle breed of India. It is known to originate in the region along the banks of Ganga river in eastern Uttar Pradesh and western parts of Bihar state.

Incidentally, this is the region of Bharat from which my family migrated to Mauritius in the latter part of the nineteenth century. The Gangatiri is an important dual purpose breed of North India. The cows are fairly good milk yielders.

Rig Veda Mandala 6 Hymn 28 -

6.028.01 May the cows come and bring good fortune; let them lie down in (our) stalls and be pleased with us; may the many-coloured kine here bear milk for Indra through many morns.

6.028.02 Indra grants the desires of the man who offers to him sacrifice and praise; he ever bestows upon him wealth, and deprives him not of that which is his own; again and again increasing his riches, he places the devout man in an inaccessible fortress.

6.028.03 Let not the cows be lost; let no thief carry them away; let no hostile weapon fall upon them; may the master of the cattle live many a year with these, the Cows whereby he pours his gifts and serves the gods.

6.028.04 Let not the dust-spurning (war) horse reach them nor let them fall in the way of sacrificial consecration. Let the cattle of the man who offers sacrifice wander about at large and without fear.

6.028.05 May the cows be (for our) affluence; may Indra grant me cattle; may the cows yield the food of the first libation; these cows, oh men, are the Indra, the Indra whom I desire with heart and mind.

6.028.06 Do you, cows, give us nourishment; render the emaciated, the unlovely body the reverse; do you, whose lowing is auspicious, make my dwelling prosperous; great is the abundance that is attributed to you in religious assemblies.

6.028.07 May you, cows, have many calves grazing upon good pasture, drinking pure water at accessible ponds; may no thief be your master; no beast of prey (assail you), and may the (fatal) weapon of Rudra avoid you.

6.028.08 Let the nourishment of the cows be solicited, let the vigour of the bull (be requested), Indra, for your invigoration [i.e. the milk and butter which are required for Indra's nutriment are dependent upon the cows bearing calves].

What a beauty this Gir dhenu is!

Native to the Gir forest & adjoining areas of Saurāṣṭra, Gir/Gyr bovines are native, medium to large Bhāratīya zebus. One of the very best Indian milch breeds, Gir cows & bulls can range in body colour from shining red to spotted white.

For decades, Brazilian farmers have been rearing some desi breeds, one of the most prominent of which is the Gir. They have done such a formidable job with these marvellous creatures that currently, the yield world record is held by a Brazilian Gir cow, @ > 17 litres on one day.

Considered to be the most gentle of Indian cow breeds, Girs tend to look so too, by virtue of their convex foreheads, long and pendulous ears and downward- and backward-growing horns. Their milk, nay nectar, is, needless to add, of the A2 variety, hence appropriate for humans.

Continuing the thread with the कंकरेज breed, a Go variety that originates in Gujarat and neighbouring parts of Rajasthan & the Sindh. Kankrej cows & bulls are easily recognisable as the heaviest of zebu breeds. They readily stand out by virtue of their large, lyre-shaped horns.

Like the Gir, Kankrej bovines have been bred in Brazil, outside Bhārat, for quite a long time, & remain highly prized for their agricultural value. In Bhārat, the breed maintains, till now, its reputation as a fine dual-purpose animal, being efficient at both draught and dairy.

The coat colour of the Kankrej ranges from silver grey to iron grey to steel black, with bulls being usually darker than cows & bullocks. Of greater interest maybe is that according to many, Kankrej cows yield extremely tasty & sweet milk. Lucky are we to have these cows around.

Given the chance, I'd myself certainly like to serve one, or more, of these majestic beings.

जय गौ माता ।

Next, we come to a beautiful breed known as राठी. Native to Rajasthan, these cows & bulls are typically white with brown spots or brown with white spots & markings, but can also be mostly brown with a little black; rAThI cows rank among the best performing milch cows in bhArata.

The prevailing consensus is that the breed evolved from sAhiwAla-s, lAla sindhI-s, thArapArakara-s & dhannI-s, with a preponderance of sAhiwAla. Well adapted to desert conditions, they're concentrated in Loonkaransar tehsil of Bikaner district, also known as the rAThI tract.

The beautiful big-horned, high-humped Kangeyam, native to the Tiruppur district of Tamil Nadu, is another jāta of bhāratīya go we'll now look at. Whilst they are primarily draught zebus, the milk of Kangeyam cows is held in high regard for its low fat content & nutritious value.

We next have a quick look at Bachaur, a breed of go originating in the northern districts of Bihar (Madhubani, Darbhanga, Sitamarhi). Quite compact and small in size, they're, to all intents and purposes, dual purpose animals, cows and bulls used for draught and dairy.

Exhibiting a number of morphologic similarities with Haryanvi cattle, the Bachaur breed is a strong animal with powerful shoulders despite its size, and is known for pace. It excels at draught and whilst the lactation tends to be on the low side, it is nonetheless better than +

what most other draught breeds are able to manage. Bachaur bovines are particularly reputed for their capability to survive on low quality feed, which given the material realities of modern Bhārat, is a definite asset. They are usually white or light grey in colour.

Bhārat has been blessed with much diversity in her native cow breeds. The 37-odd breeds that currently grace the land are merely what remain of our rich bovine heritage. There were many, many more varieties in the past. We turn to the Kapila cow, a rare, extremely valued Go type.

Originating in Dakṣiṇa Kannaḍa and Kasaragod, this relatively small type of Go is named after Kapila Muni, of śāstrīya fame. Kapila cows are held in very high regard as they are considered to have immense value, both religious and otherwise. They can be black, white or golden.

Golden Kapilas, in particular, are highly prized on account of their products (milk, ghee, etc) being of excellent quality, and considered as perfect for using in dhārmika acts such as yajñas. Whilst the milk yield is pretty low, averaging 1.5 litres a day, its quality is lauded.

Indeed, the milk of the Kapila cow has fantastic medicinal and healing properties. It remains specifically suited for Ayurveda. Kapilas voluntarily shed their horns annually - Gorocana is then easily harvested from them, as per nature's ingenious arrangement.

Sadly, the population of this wonder cow is on a steady decline, not the least because of the relentless advance of Indian urbanisation. There are, however, conservation efforts that have been afoot for a while to try and preserve the Kapila Go. Let us hope they're successful.