Sambalpur: A 125-year-old cow shelter in front of Samaleswari temple here is being shifted for the beautification and development of the 16th century shrine.
The shifting of Sri Krushna Goshala (cow shelter) began on Friday to pave way for the implementation of Odisha government’s Samaleswari Temple Area Management and Local Economy Initiatives (SAMALEI) scheme, Sambalpur Municipal Corporation commissioner Pradeep Kumar Sahu said.
The goshala was set up in 1896 by a group of philanthropists to look after and provide care to cows. Cows were then donated by some people and the goshala authorities had purchased some and milk was sold from there to meet expenses.
The shifting of the shelter which now houses 500 cows will take around four days and the new one will be set up at Putapali area of Sambalpur town, Sahu said.
The land at Putapali measuring 50 acres was donated to the Goshala by a person many years ago.
“We have requested the district administration to provide a small piece of land near the Samaleswari temple so that a counter can be set up to sell the milk produced at the goshala and people can buy pure milk”, said Gobind Agrawal, who is associated with the cow shelter.
PTI