Nepal temple bans mass animal slaughter

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Source - http://news.yahoo.com/nepal-te... In a victory for activists, Nepalese temple authorities said Tuesday they would end a centuries-old Hindu tradition of mass animal slaughter that attracts hundreds of thousands of worshippers. The festival, held once every five years, sees hordes of devotees from Nepal and India flock to a temple in the Himalayan nation's southern plains to sacrifice thousands of animals in the hope of appeasing the Hindu goddess of power, Gadhimai. "We have decided to completely stop the practice of animal sacrifice," said Motilal Prasad, secretary of the Gadhimai Temple Trust, which organises the celebrations. "I realised that animals are so much like us -- they have the same organs as us... and feel the same pain we do," Prasad told AFP. The practice of ritual sacrifice has a long history in Nepal, with devotees offering goats and buffaloes to gods during major festivals in the hope of finding health and happiness. Some 2.5 million worshippers sacrificed an estimated 200,000 animals during the most recent instalment of the Gadhimai festival held last November in the village of Bariyapur near the Indian border. View gallery Ritual sacrifice has a long history in Nepal, with devotees offering goats and buffaloes to gods in … "It won't be easy to end a 400-year-old custom... but we have four years to convince people that they don't need to sacrifice animals to please the goddess," Prasad said. Animal rights activists applauded the decision, which came after years spent lobbying temple authorities and the Nepal government in a campaign that attracted support from celebrities including British actress Joanna Lumley and French movie legend Brigitte Bardot. "It has been a long effort... we took a firm stand and it has finally worked," said Manoj Gautam, president of Animal Nepal Welfare Network. "We realise that people have been victimised by superstition so building mass awareness is critical, but I am very hopeful that we will see a bloodless festival in 2019," Gautam told AFP. According to legend, the first sacrifices in Bariyapur were conducted several centuries ago when Gadhimai appeared to a prisoner in a dream and asked him to establish a temple to her. When he awoke, his shackles had fallen open and he was able to leave the prison and build the temple, where he sacrificed animals to give thanks.

ramas · Jul 28, 2015 7:44 AM · 3,282 views

6 Replies

Best news of the day! Pretty sure those fools will protest for this too and I would love to see their asses kicked by the cops! Nepal should be a free country like US, not a Hindu nation. Hindu is an Indian thing and we need to stay away from anything that has to do with India.

s_man23 · Jul 28, 2015 8:52 AM

It is good thing, for no reason thousands of animals got killed in the name of god. But : S_Man23; Where did you get your degree on culture and religion? Did you convert your culture recently and did you family followed you too? All Hindus are Indian? Never heard this theory . If you follow the root of your ancestor may be 2-3 hundreds year ago they came from India. When Changej Khan invaded Hindustan, many Aryan fled to Northern part and one of them may be your ancestor unless you belong to Mongol tribe. Last edited: 28-Jul-15 09:12 AM

magorkhe1 · Jul 28, 2015 9:09 AM

@maghorkhe1: Who the hell cares who fled where in the past? Just because you are an Indian c0ck sucker doesn't mean that rest of the Nepalese support your love for India. You may be some sort of Indian yourself. We true Nepalese have a deep dislike for India. The fact that majority of Nepalese are Hindus really sucks and it's all because of India. We need to change that. White Americans came from Europe. Do they give a f**k where they came from today? NO!!!!!!!!!!!!! True Nepalese don't live in the past. They don't want to have anything to do with India or their culture. Stop wearing those stupid Indian Sarees or kurtas. Create your own design and wear that!!

s_man23 · Jul 28, 2015 10:02 AM

Did those European  adopted new culture, old or Hybrid ?  Where do you fall?  So you are the New Father who is preaching Mormonism and  acting as a white?   Last edited: 28-Jul-15 11:00 AM

magorkhe1 · Jul 28, 2015 10:48 AM

@magorkhe1: If you are an immigrant, it's hybrid. It's because you can't change who you are but cannot deny how sucky it is where you came from. Ages ago, Nepal may be a part of India but what matters is what we want to be today. Personally, if I could I would erase the word "religion" from the dictionary and encourage everyone to be an Atheist. All these mythological stories were created to educate people about morality and humanity, not to fight with each other just because you have a different religion. We need moral science and common sense 101, not religion. Buddha was born in Nepal. Why the hell don't people follow someone who was born in your country if you so desperately need some kinda religion in your life??? Last edited: 28-Jul-15 12:06 PM

s_man23 · Jul 28, 2015 12:00 PM

hallelujah

divorceguy · Jul 28, 2015 6:18 PM

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Nepal temple bans mass animal slaughter

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