Festival of Mass Animal Sacrifice Begins in Nepal

HINDU MASS SACRIFICE OF HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF ANIMALS

NPR

Festival Of Mass Animal Sacrifice Begins In Nepal

by The Associated Press

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A Devotee carries a baby goat, as she heads to Gadhimai temple in Bariyapur about 70 kilometers south of Katmandu, Nepal, Monday, Nov. 23, 2009. A Hindu festival in which hundreds of thousands of animals are expected to be sacrificed will go ahead as scheduled in southern Nepal despite protests, organizers said Friday.

Associated Press

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A butcher prepares to slaughter a buffalo with his knife during a mass sacrifice ceremony at Gadhimai temple in Bariyapur, about 70 kilometers (43 miles) south of Katmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009. Hundreds of thousands of Hindus gathered at a temple in southern Nepal on Tuesday for a ceremony involving the slaughter of more than 200,000 animals, a festival that has drawn the ire of animal-welfare protesters.

Associated Press

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A butcher chases an injured buffalo which survived his first attack during a mass sacrifice ceremony at Gadhimai temple in Bariyapur, about 70 kilometers (43 miles) south of Katmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009. Hundreds of thousands of Hindus gathered at a temple in southern Nepal on Tuesday for a ceremony involving the slaughter of more than 200,000 animals, a festival that has drawn the ire of animal-welfare protesters.

Associated Press

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Butchers with butcher knives participate in religious rituals before slaughtering buffalos during a mass sacrifice ceremony at Gadhimai temple in Bariyapur, about 70 kilometers (43 miles) south of Katmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009. Hundreds of thousands of Hindus gathered at a temple in southern Nepal on Tuesday for a ceremony involving the slaughter of more than 200,000 animals, a festival that has drawn the ire of animal-welfare protesters.

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BARIYAPUR, Nepal November 24, 2009, 12:00 pm ET

The ceremony began with prayers in a temple by tens of thousands of Hindus before dawn Tuesday. Then it shifted to a nearby corral, where in the cold morning mist, scores of butchers wielding curved swords began slaughtering buffalo calves by hacking off their heads.

Over two days, 200,000 buffaloes, goats, chickens and pigeons will be killed as part of a blood-soaked festival held every five years to honor Gadhimai, a Hindu goddess of power.

While cows are sacred and protected by law in Nepal, animal sacrifice has a long history in this overwhelmingly Hindu country and parts of neighboring India. The Bariyapur festival has become so big, in part, because such ceremonies have been banned in many areas in the neighboring Indian state of Bihar.

And while it is criticized by animal-rights protesters, the festival is defended as a centuries-old tradition.

Many Nepalis believe that sacrifices in Gadhimai's honor will bring them prosperity. They also believe that by eating the meat, which is taken back to their villages and consumed during feasts, they will be protected from evil.

Taranath Gautam, the top government official in the area, estimated that more than 200,000 people had come for the ceremony in Bariyapur, some 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Katmandu. Some brought their own animals to sacrifice.

"I am here with my mother who had promised the goddess she would sacrifice a goat. It was her wish and promise and I am glad we were able to fulfill it," said Pramod Das, a farmer from the nearby village of Sarlahi. "I believe now my mother's wishes will come true."

Animal rights groups don't have much power in Nepal, but they have staged repeated protests in recent weeks. Local news reports say some activists set up stands in towns on the way to the Bariyapur temple, offering Hindu pilgrims coconuts and other fruits to sacrifice instead of animals.

There was no sign of them Tuesday.

"We were unable to stop the animal sacrifices this year but we will continue our campaign to stop killings during this festival," said Pramada Shah of the group Animals Nepal.

The ceremony, which goes back for generations, has enormous resonance in a country where per capital income is about $25 a month, illiteracy is widespread and vast social divides have left millions working as tenant farmers for feudal landlords.

Even many educated Nepalis see value in the tradition.

Om Prasad, a banker from the nearby city of Birgunj, brought offerings of fruit and flowers to the festival, but said he believed people should be able to sacrifice animals if they want.

"It is their tradition and it is fine if they continue to follow it. No one should try to tell them they can't follow what their ancestors did," he said.

Experts say it will take many more years before there are changes in these deeply rooted traditions.

"They continue these animal sacrifice rituals because they believe it is a tradition that can't be broken," said Ram Bahadur Chetri, an anthropology professor at Katmandu's Tribhuwan University. "The people who follow these traditions believe that if they discontinue, then the gods will get angry and there could be catastrophe in the country."

Buffaloes, goats, chicken and ducks are sacrificed at most Hindu homes in Nepal during the Dasain festivals, which fell in September this year.

THE GUARDIAN:

'The mass sacrifice of animals is barbaric'

21st century life

Monday November 23rd 2009

Pramada Shah, president of the Animal Welfare Network Nepal and wife of the king's nephew, explains what will happen during the Gadhimai Jatra festival on November 24-25, at which half a million animals and birds are expected to be sacrificed
• Comment on this article

Monday November 23rd 2009

Pramada Shah with the high priest of Gadhimai. Photograph: Lucia de Vries

Animal sacrifice is an everyday occurrence in Nepal. One could visit one of the countless temples and suddenly find oneself witnessing the beheading of a goat, a chicken, a duck, or even a young buffalo. The visitor might catch the last sounds of a dying animal or find oneself wading through a stream of blood.
The ‘mother of all sacrifices’ is at Gadhimai Jatra in Bara district in the south of Nepal. This festival is held once every five years. Last time 20,000 buffaloes were killed as well as an unknown number of other animals, including rats, snakes, pigeons, chicken, ducks, goats and sheep. The total number of animals killed in the span of just two days was estimated to be 200,000. This year the organisers aim to sacrifice no less than half a million animals. Local communities are being pressurised to increase the numbers; each village committee is supposed to pledge one thousand animals.
Some 70 per cent of devotees come from India, which is just across the border from Gadhimai. One reason for the event's huge popularity is its proximity to India, where some states have now banned sacrificial slaughter. In India today there is greater awareness about animal sacrifice and animal suffering so it is sad to see that Nepal caters to those devotees who will be able to conduct sacrifices that are illegal in their home states.
Sacrifice in itself is gruesome. Unsystematic mass sacrifice such as the one in Gadhimai is no less than barbaric. The worst killings are those of panchhbali – five offerings – in which the throats of five kinds of animals (buffaloes, goats, pigs, roosters and rats) are slit with a knife. It is not done quickly. The animals die a slow, extremely cruel, violent death while the priests sprinkle the blood across the idol and its surroundings.
Right after the panchhbali, it is the buffaloes’ turn. Wielding swords, men enter a fenced yard where around 20,000 buffaloes are kept, and start hacking at the buffaloes’ necks. As the killers cannot chop off the buffaloes’ heads at once, they first cut the hind legs. After the animal falls on the ground the men hack until the buffalo’s head is separated from the body. It takes up to twenty five attempts to kill a big buffalo. The suffering is unimaginable.
Campaigners have protested against the widespread public sacrifice in Nepal for the last two decade, but I am a late entrant to this movement. Despite the fact that I have been involved in the women’s movement for long, I had to give it some thought before becoming equally vocal about another sensitive issue. But I have always been against sacrifice.
I remember creating a scene when I was about eight when I realised that a goat I used to play with was going to be killed. What upset me even more was that the fact that the goat would be beheaded in the name of God. In my Hindu upbringing I was taught that God was the Creator; even as a child I could not understand why God would want His creatures to be killed.
After seeing how upset I was my family stopped sacrificing animals. My relatives are animal lovers too so they might have been secretly relieved to be offering coconuts instead of animals. When I married a member of the royal family, my in-laws kindly agreed to abandon animal sacrifice and introduce the offerings of fruits and vegetables. They too are aware of the futility of animal sacrifice.
Since then I have talked to numerous people about this issue. I have come to realise that pledging animals to get one’s wishes fulfilled is a deep-rooted tradition. Children grow up witnessing numerous public sacrifices; people are made to believe that killing animals in a temple is a short cut to becoming successful. Even well-educated Nepalese, social campaigners and development agencies continue the tradition.
When I ask educated people why they don’t stop sacrifice, at least in their own family, they answer that bad luck could be the outcome and that a tragedy might occur. They feel it is better to continue the age old traditions and be safe. With such widespread deep-rooted superstition it is easy to imagine how hard it is for campaigners to address this issue. The superstitious nature of the Nepalese people stands in the way of abolishing archaic practices such as animal sacrifice as well as witchcraft, racial discrimination, women’s suppression and others.
Nepal’s leaders might be concerned about the image of the country when the world’s largest sacrifice starts next week, but they will not want to interfere. They regard the issue as ‘too sensitive’ and claim they do not want to hurt the sentiments of religious groups.
Animal sacrifice benefits the business community involved in fairs such as Gadhimai. This year the organising committee expects to raise about 2 million euros from selling animal hides and carcasses as well as payment for logistics and recreational facilities. In contrast, the poor do not do well out of it. Some will have to spend up to two months' salary to buy an animal to be sacrificed at the fair.
Another issue that is overlooked is that cruelty against animals harms society as a whole; it signals and normalises insensitivity in children who can become numb to the suffering of living beings. Now that the armed conflict has ended, Nepal needs peaceful practices that educate the next generation for a harmonious society.
The involvement of the international community is crucial to the campaign’s success. The support of the world at large will act as a catalyst by creating an atmosphere of shame among those who continue to sacrifice innocent creatures and motivate lawmakers to introduce a legal and administrative framework.
The movement is already gaining momentum and will continue to grow after images from the killings fields of Gadhimai are broadcast across the nation and the world. Animals cannot speak for themselves. Until now it has been the priests and business community to speak for them: bring more, kill more animals. It is high time for every concerned citizen to speak out and stop inhumane killings in the name of religion.
• Interviewed by Anthony Dias, a Kolkata-based freelance journalist.

REPULICA

WORLD ANIMAL DAY

Crossborder campaign against Gadhimai butchering
AKANSHYA SHAH
KATHMANDU, Oct 4: Animal welfare campaigners have initiated a coalition with the Indian NGOs and networks of animal rights activists, including Hindu and Buddhist leaders, especially from the Indian state of Bihar, for a joint action to halt animal sacrifices at the the Gadhimai festival in Bariyarpur, Bara district. The festival falls on November 24 this year.
During the festival each year, over 350,000 animals are slaughtered as sacrifice to the deity Gadhimai.
“The Gadhi Mai fair has a cross-border linkage which dates back many years. Since it is participated by Indian people as well, we are initiating a joint-campaign against this barbaric fair,” Pramoda Shah of Animal Nepal, a local NGO, told Republica.
Many Indian nationals travel to attend this festival and offer animal sacrifice.
“It is ironical that such practices have been stopped in India, but in our own Land of Buddha, people are taking to violence in such cold-blooded manner in the name of religion,” Dr Govinda Tandon, a culture expert and former member of the Pashupati Area Development Trust said.
He added, “The festival is baseless too as it started when a priest dreamt of the Goddess asking for sacrifice.”
In the carnival, which is observed every five years, over 350,000 animals, mainly buffalos, piglets, chickens, rats, goats, baby goats, roosters, and pigeons, are to be sacrificed to please the deity Gadhimai.
The first day of the festival, which sees the largest animal sacrifice in the world, is panchbali when five black goats are sacrificed followed by killing of seven buffaloes. But the festival takes a worse turn when some 250 local men, who officiate sacrifices, ruthlessly take to slaughtering of the animals.
“The men are made to consume alcohol before and are let loose to hack the animals in one of the worst form of animal killings,” Shah said, adding, “Superstition is perpetuating violence in Nepal and it is difficult to counteract, especially in bringing about a behavioral change in the educated ones.”
Psychiatrists have long pointed at the health hazard caused to the humans by such unorganized killings and the mental trauma/illness caused by it. Those locals who have been involved in the sacrifice over the years are said to be suffering from acute form of mental disorder.
“One man had to be permanently tied by a rope as he started murdering people. In the people he saw animal images,” Dr Tandon said.
The activists believe that such a cross-border campaign will draw the attention of the international community toward such inhumane treatment meted out to the innocent animals. However, they also feel that the campaign may have an adverse impact on the country´s tourism.
“The festival has invited international criticism and is portraying Nepal in bad light. If activists make an issue of the fair it will have an adverse impact on tourism,” Shah said.
The organizing committee of the carnival has already begun disseminating information about the ´celebrations´. The committee is organizing the event on a hefty budget.
A number of religious groups in Nepal are opposing the mass sacrifice. The campaign will also be joined by the famous ´Buddha boy´ of Nepal, Ram Bahadur Bomjon. “He will be visiting the temple to bless the animals as a symbolic protest,” Lucia de Vries of the Animal Nepal said.
The animal rights activists are also protesting a similar festival in Khokhana, Lalitpur. In one fair in Khokhana, a baby goat is thrown into a pond and some local men tear the goat to death. The one who kills it and comes out victorious is then named a ´hero´.