New Vrindaban Community Festival celebrates cow protection program

That’s not the case at the New Vrindaban community in the hills outside of Moundsville. Founded a little more than 50 years ago by the International Society of Krishna Consciousness, members of the community maintain a herd of cattle and oxen that numbers more than 60. The dairy cows are milked, of course, and the oxen are deployed for agricultural purposes. But the cattle otherwise live out their lives in the relatively serene surroundings of New Vrindaban, and are quietly buried when they die.

This weekend, New Vrindaban is celebrating what it calls “50 years of cow protection”with a festival that will include churning butter, making patties and decorations out of cow dung, and presentations on subjects like training oxen.