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Ritual sacrifice in Nepal sees 320,000 animals slaughtered to Hindu goddess

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Tuesday, November 24, 2009

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Approximately 81% of Nepal practices Hinduism.

In a tribute to Gadhimai, a Hindu goddess of power, a Nepalese festival began today with the mass sacrifice of 20,000 buffalo in the village of Bariyapur. Shortly after, 300,000 birds, sheep and goats were similarly ritually slaughtered.

It is estimated as many as 750,000 people travelled from India, which recently banned similar mass-sacrifices, to make up the majority of the festival's estimated one million attendees. Member of Parliament Shiv Chandra Kushwaha skipped Tuesday's legislative meeting, saying that the festival had more importance as a religious celebration.

Although animal rights groups have condemned the ceremony as cruel, the Nepalese government has ignored requests to cancel the festival, held once every five years. Last year, the government banned a similar slaughter during the festival of Yanya Punhi, and was greeted with angry protests.

The meat is taken to local villages, who host large feasts for those in attendance, as it is believed to ward off evil.


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  This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.
Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

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Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.

The text of this article is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License
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