KATHMANDU, Nepal - Hundreds of thousands of Hindus gathered at a temple in southern Nepal yesterday for a ceremony involving the slaughter of more than 200,000 animals, a festival that has drawn the ire of animal-welfare protesters.
A Nepalese minister said it was the largest sacrificial slaughter of animals in the world.
Protests have occurred in recent weeks in towns near the Gadhimai temple and in the capital, Katmandu, by animals-rights activists and other religious groups. However, Hindu organizers refused to halt the slaughter, saying it was a centuries-old tradition.
More than 200,000 buffalo, goats, chickens, and pigeons were to be killed yesterday and today at the temple in the jungles of Bara district, about 100 miles south of Kathmandu, to honor the Hindu goddess Gadhimai.
Taranath Gautam, the chief government administrator in the area, said hundreds of thousands of people began lining up in the early hours yesterday, and the animal sacrifice rituals had started.
The Gadhimai festival is celebrated every five years. Participants believe sacrificing the animals for Gadhimai will end evil and bring prosperity. Many join the festival from the neighboring Indian state of Bihar, where animal sacrifices have been banned in some areas.
Critics say the killings, carried out by slitting the animals’ throats with swords, are barbaric and conducted in a cruel manner.
The slaughtered animals are taken back by devotees to their villages and eaten during a feast. The meat is considered blessed and consuming it protects them from evil.
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