Beasts of beauty: Cows walk ramp in Haryana

Decked up in traditional finery, hundreds of cows and bulls strutted down the ramp for a beauty pageant here, with a huge crowd cheering their every move.
In the end, it was 'Rani', a cow from Imlauta village in Bhiwani district which edged out the competition to emerge triumphant, a spokesperson of the International Institute of Veterinary Education and Research, which conducted the bovine beauty pageant, said.
About 633 cattle heads from different districts participated in the pageant to raise awareness about indigenous bovine breeds.
A competition was also held to judge cows on their milk-yielding capacity.
Cattle breeds like Hariana, Sahiwal, Tharparkar, Rathi, Belahi and Gir took part in the event held at Bahu Akbarpur here, the spokesperson said.

Haryana Agriculture Minister O P Dhankar, who was chief guest at the event, appealed to cattle breeders to assist government in promoting indigenous breeds and encourage people to take up breeding.
He assured all possible help for promoting cow rearing in each household in the state.