We have all have heard about selfie or groupfie, but now the new photo-taking craze sweeping India has taken a bizarre new turn with the advent of the 'cowfie'.

It all began when an NGO in Kolkata announced a two-month-long competition that invites people to take selfies beside a cow and upload it on their website to qualify for an award.

The response for the competition, which started on Gopastami, is such that the website crashed under the sheer amount of contributions. To meet the demand the charity has bought additional server data to keep downloading and storing the thousands of cowfies being submitted.

UDDERLY ridiculous: Thousands of people in India are talking selfies with cows

Another magic mooooment: One enthusiastic selfie taker shares his snap from a beach in Goa

Abhishek Pratap Singh, a senior member of Go Seva Parivar, the organiser of the contest explained: 'The selfie competition has been started to spread awareness about the gaumata (cow).

'We want to make this competition a medium for everyone to understand the importance of cows. We want them to believe that a selfie is not meant to be clicked with friends or celebrities.'

Krishna holding Govardhan hill

The contest, which runs until December 31, has been flooded with entries since it started.

One of the applicants, Rohit Goenka, said: 'I am very fond of clicking selfies. I have come with my entire family. I strongly believe I will win.'

The 6000-member Go Seva Parivar started operating only three years ago, with an aim to bring awareness about cows in urban and rural areas.

This is one of their most successful campaigns.

Vikas Trivedi, another member of the organisation said: 'I want people to be aware of the importance of cow protection, which is known as gauraksha.

This is in fact the main motive behind our initiative of organising the competition.

'We believe a mere selfie will be enough to get people connected with our the gaumata.'

A man takes a traditional selfie on the beach in the Colombo (photo for representation only)

Security staff in Delhi will now arrest anyone who ventures onto the track to take a photo (photo for representation only)

The cow selfie mania has been more popular in the district level. The cowfies can be uploaded on gosevaparivar.org or even via the app available on Play Store.

Goseva Parivar - Vision 'Goseva Parivar wants to see all Mother Cows and their progeny live a full and happy life We want to help the owner of the Mother Cow become prosperous through her dung and urine and keep her forever Present Mother Cow as a necessity as well as a status symbol, irrespective of caste, creed, religion, state, and nation We aspire to re-establish her as the Mother of Universe' Source - www.gosevaparivar.org Advertisement

West Bengal has more than 6,000 gaushalas or cow shelters. Surendra Dalmia, in charge of the Sodepur Gaushala with more than 1,000 cows is flooded with participation requests.

Dalmia explains: '50-60 people are clicking selfies with cows daily. I am happy to witness that the move has been so successful.'

While the Go Seva Parivar campaign has a positive message behind it, India's obsession with selfies is filled with danger and has made the country the world's worst deaths related to the photo craze.

A study by scholars from Carnegie Mellon University and Indraprastha Institute of Information Delhi found that of 127 reported selfie deaths worldwide from March 2014 to September 2016, 76 of them occurred in India.

Earlier this month, three college students were killed by an express train while taking photos of themselves on a track in India - the latest in a long line of similar incidents on the railways.

A cow statue covered in colored powder during the Holi festival in the Banke Bihari temple

Truly mooooving: The website has been inundated with uploads from eager participants

Last November three students died while trying to take a selfie in front of an oncoming train in northern India.

Another student died while clicking a picture on a cliff edge that broke off, sending him plunging to his death into a ravine.

Last year the federal government asked states to ensure there were warning signs at tourist spots deemed dangerous for selfie-lovers.

India's financial capital Mumbai declared 16 no-selfie zones after several deaths at those locations.