Source: www.guardian.co.uk
NEPAL, November 24, 2009: The world’s biggest animal sacrifice began in Nepal today with the killing of the first of more than 250,000 animals as part of a festival in the village of Bariyapur, near the border with India. The event is held every five years in honour of Gadhimai, a Goddess of power.
With up to a million worshippers on the roads near the festival grounds, this year’s fair seems more popular than ever, despite vocal protests from animals rights groups who have called for it to be banned. “It is the traditional way, ” explained 45-year old Manoj Shah, a Nepali driver who has been attending the event since he was six, “If we want anything, and we come here with an offering to the Goddess, within five years all our dreams will be fulfilled.” .
The dead animals will be sold to companies who will profit from the sale of the meat, bones and hide. Organizers will funnel the proceeds into development of the area.
On the eve of the event, protesters made a final plea to organizers by cracking open coconuts in a nearby temple as a symbolic sacrifice. “It is cruel and inhumane. I don’t think sacrifice has to be part of the Hindu religion,” said the protest organizer, Pramada Shah.