At least two children died of suffocation yesterday as hundreds of thousands of devotees gathered in southern Nepal for a controversial religious gathering involving large-scale animal sacrifice, media reports said.
Nearly half a million people from Nepal and India are expected to attend the Hindu festival of Gadhimai at Bariyapur, about 80km south of the Nepalese capital.
Kantipur Television reported two Indian children died of suffocation as crowds gathered to witness the animal sacrifices and pay homage to Gadhimai, considered to have powers to fulfill the wishes of followers.
PHOTO: AFP
The festival began in the morning with the sacrifices of five animals at the Gadhimai temple, followed immediately by a larger sacrifice.
Estimates said about 250,000 animals, including buffaloes and goats, would be slaughtered for the goddess of power in the belief that the act will fulfil wishes of devotees.
The Samacharpatra newspaper reported that a single pilgrim had brought 105 buffaloes for sacrifice after his wishes were fulfilled.
Indian national Ram Thakur Humihar from the state of Bihar was sacrificing the animals because of the promise he made to the goddess.
Humihar had made the promise several years ago when his wife was unable to conceive and the couple now have children. The festival has attracted widespread criticism from within and outside Nepal for the large-scale animal sacrifice.
A small group of animal rights activists gathered outside the temple area to protest the killings, saying they were unnecessary.
They said they hoped to raise awareness about cruelty to animals.
There were fears that the protests could lead to clashes but the festival has so far been peaceful. The festival is due to continue for two more days.
Worshippers traveled long distances to attend, many coming from India. The festival takes place once every five years.
A huge cry of “Long Live Gadhimai!” went up after the village temple’s head priest launched the event with the ritual sacrifice of two wild rats, two pigeons, a rooster, a lamb and a pig.
The gathered crowd then rushed to a nearby field, where 250 sword-wielding butchers were waiting to begin the mass slaughter of around 20,000 buffalo, brought by devotees to be sacrificed near the holy temple.
“This is a very special day for Hindu devotees,” head priest Mangal Chaudhary Tharu said as the Gadhimai festival began.
“All the people who came here to worship Gadhimai have been waiting a long time for this day. I am very proud to be part of this event,” said Tharu, the fourth generation of his family to serve as a priest at the temple.
Hundreds of thousands of devotees were crammed into the area for the festival, many of them from India, where many states have banned animal slaughter for religious purposes.
Nepal’s government has refused to put a stop to what it says is a centuries-old religious tradition, despite a vocal campaign from local animal rights activists who say the ritual slaughter is needless cruelty.
Their cause is supported by the well-known Indian animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi and by the French film star turned campaigner Brigitte Bardot, who this month wrote to Nepal’s president urging him to put a stop to the festival.
Armed police have been deployed around the temple grounds and authorities have banned alcohol during the festival.
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