Ritual sacrifice in Nepal sees 320,000 animals slaughtered to Hindu goddess
From Wikinews, the free news source you can write!
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
- 24 November 2009: Ritual sacrifice in Nepal sees 320,000 animals slaughtered to Hindu goddess
- 16 June 2009: Nepali capital Kathmandu shut down after rebel strike
- 23 May 2009: Bomb explosion kills two in Nepal church
- 1 January 2009: Mount Everest plane crash blamed on pilot error
- 8 October 2008: Passenger plane crashes in Nepal killing 18
In a tribute to Gadhimai, a Hindu goddess of power, a Nepalese festival began today with the mass sacrifice of 20,000 buffalo in the village of Bariyapur. Shortly after, 300,000 birds, sheep and goats were similarly ritually slaughtered.
It is estimated as many as 750,000 people travelled from India, which recently banned similar mass-sacrifices, to make up the majority of the festival's estimated one million attendees. Member of Parliament Shiv Chandra Kushwaha skipped Tuesday's legislative meeting, saying that the festival had more importance as a religious celebration.
Although animal rights groups have condemned the ceremony as cruel, the Nepalese government has ignored requests to cancel the festival, held once every five years. Last year, the government banned a similar slaughter during the festival of Yanya Punhi, and was greeted with angry protests.
The meat is taken to local villages, who host large feasts for those in attendance, as it is believed to ward off evil.
Sources
- AFP "'World's biggest animal sacrifice' begins in Nepal" – Yahoo News, November 24, 2009
- Sudeshna Sarkar "Indians throng Nepal's Gadhimai fair for animal sacrifice" – India Times, November 24, 2009
- "Pilgrims flock to Nepalese temple as 200,000 animals are slaughtered to honour Hindu goddess" – Daily Mail, November 24, 2009
- "Widescale protests in Nepal over scrapping of animal sacrifice" – Hindu News, September 21, 2008
 Share this: |
 |
This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.
Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators. Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections. Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age. |
