More than 250,000 animals are being lined up for slaughter as Nepalembarks on a two-day religious festival where buffalo, birds and goats are sacrificed to appease a Hindu goddess…. Millions of Hindus flock to the ceremony, which is held every five years at the temple of Gadhimai, the goddess of power, in Bariyarpur, Nepal, near the Indian border.
The last time the festival was held, in 2009, more than 250,000 animals were killed, according to animal rights organisation PETA, who is campaigning to put a stop to the practice….
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The festival is ‘kicked off’ with the ritual slaughter of five thousand buffaloin a field near the temple, after which two days of
ritual animal slaughter takes place.
Animal rights activists such as PETA are campaigning to halt the mass animal- slaughter, but despite their efforts, the
organisers of the festival has promised that this year will be the biggest yet.
About 2.5 million devotees have turned out for the festival, according to local government official Yogendra Prasad Dulal,
who said it was ‘impossible to estimate’ the total number of animals sacrificed so far….
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Prasanta Patnaik