By Vivek Tripathi

Gorakhpur, June 2 (IANS): In the Kushmi forest to the east of Gorakhpur, nearly 5 km from the main city, lies the Budhiya Mai temple. Everyday thousands of devotees used to throng to the temple which houses the local deity Budhiya Mai who is revered by the people here. But the temple is closed due to the lockdown enforced to contain the spread of coronavirus.

After Yogi Adityanath became the Uttar Pradesh chief minister, the number of devotees increased following the construction of a proper road leading to the temple. A large number of monkeys in the forest en route to the temple depend on the offerings of devotees as their main source of food. But the monkeys went hungry during the coronavirus lockdown as devotees are no longer visiting the place of worship and feeding the animals.

Social activist and Gorakhpur resident Aishwarya Pandey, who is also an animal lover, decided to take things in hand. She goes to the Kushmi forest everyday with a large quantity of fruits, biscuits, grams, peanuts to feed the hungry simians. Now she has made friends with them. The monkeys eagerly await her arrival and with love and care she feeds them everyday.

Aishwarya says, "I am happy to help the needy in society. I often do this. I felt that the society and the government are helping the people in this hour of crisis in the lockdown, but nobody thought of helping these monkeys. Then I decided to help them and started coming here. They now recognize the sound of my car."

"There are nearly 250 simians of both black and red hue here. I formed a group of persons, including men and women to feed the monkeys in my absence. We also go to the orphanage in Kushinagar for social service," adds Aishwarya.