Kabir Jung Rana is a Nepalese bank clerk by profession, but this week he took a break to butcher buffalo at the world’s biggest animal sacrifice.
Worshippers traveled long distances, many coming from neighboring India, to attend the Gadhimai festival, which is held every five years in southern Nepal to appease the Hindu goddess of power.
“It is not an easy task to kill the animals, but once I entered the slaughtering field with my sword, I felt blessed with some kind of divine power and that kept me going,” Rana said after the two-day event ended on Wednesday.
PHOTO: AFP
“I slaughtered around 20 buffalo in 2004. This time I managed to behead about 70. I wish the sacrifice has not ended,” he said.
On Tuesday 250 sword-wielding butchers slaughtered about 20,000 buffalo, while the following day hundreds of thousands of people offered smaller animals to Gadhimai.
Priests said at least 150,000 goats, roosters, ducks and pigeons were sacrificed at the temple, and thousands more were killed in surrounding fields.
“You need a lot of courage to kill the animals,” said Rana, 34, who works in nearby Birgunj town. “It is a privilege to be the part of the culture that has continued for centuries and it would be immoral to go against tradition.”
Chief priest of the temple Mangal Chaudhary Tharu said the event, which was condemned by animal rights campaigners, had been a great success.
“We are overwhelmed by the number of devotees and sacrifices made to the goddess despite criticism. We are happy that the tradition has continued,” Tharu said.
Animal rights activists have struggled to spread their message that the sacrifice is cruel in deeply conservative Nepal.
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 wrote to Nepal’s president urging him to ban the event.
But the government provided 4.5 million rupees (US$60,000) in funding for the festival, which is lucrative for organizers who sell the hides to contractors after the slaughter.
Munna Bahadur Khadgi, a professional butcher, said he had enjoyed the chance to give the goddess “something in return.”
“Gadhimai has been kind enough for me to have a good life and I take this slaughter as a way of saying ‘thank you,’” said the 40-year-old, who said he had killed 200 buffalo this year.
“I make money by killing animals normally, but at the festival I do it for spiritual satisfaction. It is the least that I could do for the goddess and I didn’t want to miss this opportunity,” he said.
For 31-year-old Abhimanyu Rana, the slaughtering was in keeping with the family’s religious belief and practice.
“When I was young I had seen my dad and grandpa slaughtering animals. I am proud that I am continuing the family history,” said Rana, who owns a local restaurant.
“I was not scared at all because I was doing it for Gadhimai. I don’t feel guilty because I know I was making the goddess happy,” he said.
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