The Iskcon temple in Mumbai’s Juhu used cow urine (gaumutra) as hand sanitiser for half-a-day after the management ran out of the regular alcoholic sanitiser. The incident has taken social media by storm and many are questioning the move by the temple authorities. Officials, however, said that it was distilled gaumutra, also known as goark’, and has anti-bacterial powers.

It was a Twitter user who first pointed out the move by Iskcon temple. In his post, convener of the digital media cell of the Indian National Congress' Kerala state unit, Raju P Nair tweeted, Today my friend took me to Govinda restaurant inside ISKCON Temple complex, Andheri where I had to go through a security check. After frisking they asked me to show my hands and sprayed something which smelled awkward. When I questioned they said it is gaumutra @OfficeofUT"

Today my friend took me to Govinda restaurant inside ISKCON Temple complex, Andheri where I had to go through a security check. After frisking they asked me to show my hands and sprayed something which smelled awkward. When I questioned they said it is gaumutra @OfficeofUT pic.twitter.com/Qdx44ungsS Raju P. Nair (@RajuPNair) March 15, 2020

Speaking to India Today about the incident, Parijata Devi Dasi from Iskcon Temple Juhu said, After the coronavirus outbreak we are taking several precautions by ourselves. We kept hand sanitisers at entry points of the temple and at the entry door of the Govinda restaurant. Now, on Sunday we ran out of stock. The restaurant had enough stock of hand santisers but at the entrance gate, we lacked hand santisers. However, taking precautions is of utmost importance. We had Goark’, which is what we get when gaumutra is boiled and other substances are removed from it. It is an anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, bio-enhancer anti-cancer agent. Therefore, till the time we get new stock we used distilled cow urine as hand sanitiser."

Parijata explained that by late evening the temple received its stock of regular hand sanitiser and they were replaced. She said, "We did not forcefully ask everyone to used cow urine as hand santiser. People were free to use it or not use it. People went to the washroom and used soap to clean hands. It is personal hygiene and precautionary measures everyone has to take."

When asked whether it wasn’t entirely wise to use gaumutra as hand sanitiser, Parijata said, "It is not gaumutra. It is distilled gaumutra. It has a lot of benefits and it is anti-bacterial. We immediately changed them once we got regular sanitisers."