Ritual sacrifice in Nepal sees 320,000 animals slaughtered to Hindu goddess
Gadhimai festival
Gadhimai festival is a Hindu festival that is held once every five years at the Gadhimai temple of Bariyapur, at KATMANDU, village in southern Nepal. The event involves what is believed to be the world's largest sacrifice of animals – including buffaloes, pigs, goats, chicken and pigeons – with the aim of pleasing Gadhimai, the goddess of power.[1] About 5 million people participate in the festival, a majority[citation needed] of whom are Indian people from the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, who flock into Nepal prior to the festival to circumvent the ban on animal sacrifice imposed by the Indian government.[2]
A month before the ritual in 2009, Nepalese authorities had ordered their officials to find goats to meet a "severe shortage". Their efforts included a radio campaign urging farmers to sell their animals. This was intended to find animals for the ritual sacrifice, as well as to meet the expected high demand for goat meat during the festival.[3]
The Gadhimai festival of 2009 started on 24 November, with the temple's head priest performing two rituals named Panchabali and Narbali. More than 20,000 buffaloes had been sacrificed on the first day.[4] It is estimated that 300,000 to 500,000 animals will be killed during the Gadhimai festival of 2009.[5] The ritual killings were performed by more than 200 men in a concrete slaughterhouse near the temple.[6] Three children had also died of extreme cold during the festival.[4]
The festival has prompted a number of protests from animal rights activists. Several attempts were made to stop the ritual in 2009 including animal rights activists Brigitte Bardot[7] and Maneka Gandhi writing to the Nepalese government asking to stop the killings. The government had not made any effort to stop the ritual, while an official had commented that they will not "interfere in the centuries-old tradition of the people".[5]
After the festival, the meat, bones and hides of the sacrificed animals are sold to companies in India and Nepal.