Nepalese temple promises an end to world鈥檚 largest mass animal sacrifice
Nepalese temple authorities have announced a ban on the ritual killing of thousands of animals during the country鈥檚 Gadhimai festival, which takes place every five years.
Nepalese temple authorities have announced a ban on the ritual killing of thousands of animals during the country鈥檚 Gadhimai festival, which takes place every five years.
A centuries-old tradition of animal sacrifice in Nepal is coming to an end.
The organizers of the Gadhimai festival, held every five years to celebrate the Hindu goddess of power,聽said Tuesday that they would no longer carry out the ritual killing of goats and water buffalos 鈥� a victory for activists and a milestone in global efforts to promote animal welfare.
鈥淭his is a tremendous victory for compassion that will save the lives of countless animals,鈥� Nepalese animal rights advocate Gauri Maulekhi聽said in a statement. 鈥淎nimal sacrifice is a highly regressive practice and no nation in the modern world should entertain it.鈥�
The Ghadimai festival has long drawn worshippers from Nepal and India to Bara District, about 100 miles south of the capital Kathmandu, to take part in the largest ritualized slaughter of animals in the world.
Last November,聽about 2.5 million devotees beheaded an estimated 200,000 goats and water buffalo over two days, all in the name of good health and happiness, Agence France-Presse reports. The next festival is due in 2019.聽
Legend has it that the goddess Gadhimai appeared to a prisoner in a dream and ordered him to build a temple to her. When the prisoner awoke, his shackles had fallen open and he did as instructed, offering animal sacrifices in thanks.
Animal rights groups, particularly Humane Society International India and the Animal Welfare Network Nepal, have long urged聽temple authorities to end the practice. In 2014, India鈥檚 supreme court ordered the country鈥檚 government to enforce a ban against illegal transportation of animals across the border for the Gadhimai festival. This reduced the flow of animals into Nepal, but failed to halt the slaughter.聽
Opponents of the ban argue that ending the practice would be an affront to tradition.聽鈥淲e cannot speak against it,鈥� one official told CNN during last year鈥檚 festival. "This is something to do with culture."
Others say that activists have been so focused on animal rights that they have ignored the festival's celebration of Hindu culture and religion, as well as family ties, Kathmandu-based journalist Deepak Adhikari wrote for The Guardian in December:
Mr. Adhikari proposed gradual reform: Temple and festival authorities should start by overseeing the humane killing of animals in designated slaughterhouses, eventually switching to symbolic sacrifices in which vegetables replace animals, he wrote.
The Gadhimai Temple Trust, which organizes the event, announced on Tuesday it would move to ban the practice for the festival鈥檚 2019 celebration.聽鈥淚t won鈥檛 be easy to end a 400-year-old custom 鈥� but we have four years to convince people that they don鈥檛 need to sacrifice animals to please the goddess,鈥� Motilal Prasad, the trust鈥檚 secretary, told AFP.
鈥淔or generations, pilgrims have sacrificed animals to the Goddess Gadhimai, in the hope of a better life,鈥� Ram Chandra Shah, the trust鈥檚 chairman, said in a statement. 鈥淔or every life taken, our heart is heavy. The time has come to transform an old tradition. The time has come to replace killing and violence with peaceful worship and celebration."