Krishnam Raju is a practitioner of alternate medicine and is a ‘Nadipathy’ expert. He is rediscovering several ancient medical techniques. Krishnam Raju has visited numerous countries over the years. He is the founder of a unique gowshala at East Godavari District (Lingampatti Village - Yeleswaram Mandalam). The innovator is specialising in miniature Punganoor Cows. This ancient breed has been resuscitated to life by Dr. P. Krishnam Raju.

The cowman shared some info with the Verandah Club team recently, “The Punganoor is an ancient breed. This name has come up in the past few hundred years. It was earlier a family cow for the poor brahmins and others who wanted to rear a cow. You see, people required some quantity of milk, gowmutra, and dung every day. The streets were small, and the houses were small too. Therefore, they decided to breed the miniature cow. It would give a little milk and was easy to feed. Managing was also a lot more comfortable. Thus, the Punganoor Cow was a brahmana breed during the puranic times."

India that is Bharat is home to profuse cow breeds. In fact, milk was just a byproduct. People used the animals for ploughing, as beasts of burden, for transport etc. The gowmutra and dung was used for farming. The natural farming pioneer Subhash Palekar has done extensive field research on this area. Krishnam Raju spoke about some of the Indic breeds, “Boni is a small cow from Bengal, in Kerala you have Vechur, Malnad Gidda is from Karnataka, and Naumuthe is from Nepal. Now coming to Punganoor, let us dig into the past. The Raja of Punganoor visited Pithapuram those days. He saw the local cows and liked them. So, he took hundreds of them with him and nourished them. There are numerous local breeds and details of many have been updated. However, we have not got fully updated. I did my bit by visiting the Guntur Government Farm and got the semen of ancient bulls. I used it on my cow and the miniature was born."

Krishnam Raju has thus rediscovered the old brahmana breed and saved it. Eminent sages Vashishta and Vishwaamitra had developed these miniatures those days. The milk, butter, ghee, and dung from these cows have high medical value claims Krishnam Raju. He spoke about the high positive vibration from the cows. “We can see the nine planets in the cows too. The small and short one is the Budha. It is full of energy and is helpful. Budha grants good knowledge. The Brahmin had it with him. Black cow represents Saturn, white is for the Moon, the good looking yellowish one is Sukra. Of course, the Punganoor miniature is for Budha, and it is good for business. The not so black or the black mixed one is for Rahu, while Guru is represented by the big cow. Cows with three colours on them are Ketu, the gold coloured one is Surya and the red one is Angaraka. The people who seek the blessings of the navagrahas can do the pooja to these cows and have the milk. Even one spoon of the milk from the miniature is like nectar,” stated Dr. P. Krishnam Raju.

The cowman has been upbringing cows like his family. He had conducted a cow wedding too. His bull was married to the cow belonging to his sister. Krishnam Raju had even got an upanayanam done for the bull. The bull is called Kannaiya and the cow is known by the name Gopika. A thirumangalya dharanam was performed and the kanyadhanam was done by his sister. The cow continues to wear the thirumangalyam even today. Krishnam Raju bubbled with joy while stating that the cow couple goes to graze and come back to the same place every day. Kannaiya and Gopika were blessed with Simha, Rukmini and Radha Rukmini. The three kids are short like their parents. While the gowshala was spread over 5 acres, it was interesting to note that Kannaiya and Gopika sleep in the same place. The cow marriage had cost about ₹2,50,000 some years ago. Krishnam Raju went on and on about his cows. It was interesting to talk with him.

The Punganoor miniatures bred by Dr. P. Krishnam Raju are in great demand. They may cost ₹3,00,000 per cow. The cowman has his family tree in place. He claims to be a direct descendent of the Eastern Chalukya dynasty. His Gurus had written down the family tree and this has helped him to understand his family background.

Well, it was interesting to catch up with Dr. P. Krishnam Raju and learn more about the cows of our country and the historical background. People had been pastoral in India. The huge country has always been home to all kinds of people. Cowman Dr. P. Krishnam Raju is keen to share details pertaining to the benefits of gowraksha. Interesting!!! 

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Mr. Rajesh Govindarajulu is one of the founding members of the Verandah Club Pvt. Ltd. He is a leading columnist, historian, jeweler, entrepreneur, and a heritage enthusiast who is earnestly working to revive the past in the light of the present. Experiential learning about the history of Coimbatore is his main course of interest and he is also a panel member of many colleges in the city.