Up to a million Hindus gathered at a temple in southern Nepal on Tuesday to witness the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of animals in a mass sacrifice that has drawn widespread criticism.
By Our Foreign Staff
Published: 5:21PM GMT 24 Nov 2009
Worshippers travelled long distances, many coming from neighbouring India, to attend the controversial ceremony at the in the jungles of Bara district, about 100 miles south of Katmandu. The two-day Gadhimai festival honouring the Hindu goddess of power takes place once every five years in southern Nepal.
A huge cry of "Long Live Gadhimai!" went up after the temple's head priest launched the event with the sacrifice of two rats, two pigeons, a rooster, a lamb and a pig.
The crowd then rushed to a nearby field, where 250 sword-wielding butchers began the mass slaughter of around 20,000 buffalo, brought by devotees to be sacrificed near the holy temple.
Animal rights activists have held demonstrations in recent weeks in towns near the Gadhimai temple and in Nepal's capital Katmandu, protesting against what one Nepalese minister said was the largest animal sacrifice in the world.
Critics say the killings - carried out by slitting the animals' throats with swords - are barbaric and conducted in a cruel manner.
However, Hindu organisers refused to halt the slaughter, saying it is a centuries-old tradition. Participants believe sacrificing the animals for Gadhimai will end evil and bring prosperity. The slaughtered animals are taken back by devotees to their villages and eaten during a feast.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/nepal/6645024/Worlds-biggest-animal-sacrifice-held-in-Nepal.html
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