Adhokshjanand Devtirath, the self-proclaimed Shankaracharya of Puri has gifted a cow to Uttar Pradesh Minister for Urban Development and Parliamentary Affairs Mohammed Azam Khan.

Adhokshjanand Devtirath, the self-proclaimed Shankaracharya of Puri has gifted a cow to Uttar Pradesh Minister for Urban Development and Parliamentary Affairs Mohammed Azam Khan, reports The Times Of India.

The gesture comes two days after Khan had called a ban on cow slaughter, saying it was a crime during the Mughal rule too. “I would like to exhort all those who have cows to take care of them and when they die, to cremate them with full honour," he had said in Rampur on Saturday.

However, Khan told The Times Of India that the gift was the religious leader’s way of following up on a promise he had made seven months ago, when Khan had laid the foundation stone for a cow shelter at Devtirath’s ashram in Mathura. Khan had expressed his desire for a black cow and Devtirath reportedly promised that he would find him one. When he did, he sent it to Khan.

Devtirath shot to fame when he claimed that he is the true Shankaracharya of Puri, and not Swami Nischalananda Saraswati, who is the anointed Shankaracharya, according to the Govardhan Peetham's official website.

The New Indian Express quotes Khan as saying that he has known the religious leader for a long time now, and since the gift shows love, he’ll reply to the gesture with love.

With inputs from IANS