Attended by thousands of people, this year's event of Kuladevata Puja led to the slaughter of over a thousand goats in the belief that doing so would be honoring the wish of the deity.
SAPRINA PANDAY: The Gadhimai festival, often called the largest mass animal-slaughter on earth… It is held every 5 years at the Gadhimai Temple of Bariyarpur near the Indian border…. After mounting pressure from both national and international animal rights groups, India’s Supreme Court outlawed the transportation of animals across the border to Gadhimai without a license in 2014. Nepal’s Supreme Court followed suit by directing the government to come up with a strategic action plan for the phasing out of the practice of animal sacrifice. In 2015, even the Temple Trust of Gadhimai had agreed to ban animal sacrifice.
However, despite the ‘ban’, the Gadhimai festival took place in 2019. The fact that the largest, and the most infamous animal sacrificial ceremony did not lead to an all-out ban suggests that it will be even harder to put an end to the practice at small-scale regularly held events like the Kuladevata Puja. Kuladevata refers to a diety that is worshiped by specific clans who follow the Hindu faith… Attended by thousands of people, this year’s event led to the killing of over a thousand goats in the belief that doing so would be honoring the wish of the deity and lead to the fulfillment of future wishes…
But more than ever, many have expressed anger at the cruelty with which animals are treated in sacrificial festivals across the country. Nepali animal activist group, Bloodless Gadhimai, carried out numerous campaigns to try and change public opinion… and many locals have opted to ‘sacrifice’ coconuts and squash instead of animals… But clearly animal sacrifice is part of something bigger than simply a practice. It is part of a deeply embedded cultural and traditional norm… Trying to ignore that aspect of it, will only serve to perpetuate the status quo and so it is imperative that it be taken in to account when implementing ways to end animal suffering. SOURCE…
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