Rats, pigeons and water buffaloes massacred in world’s largest animal sacrifice

Blood oozed across the dry, dusty earth as the high priest of Gadhimai raised his traditional khukuri knife and beheaded the five animals before him, triggering a frenzy of killing in the early hours of a foggy Sunday morning.

Hundreds of butchers with their blunt metal swords were soon cutting the necks of the agitated, crying animals – from rats and pigeons to goats and water buffaloes – in a religious ritual watched by both adults and children. Before long, rivers of red ran through the Hindu temple’s grounds, while people carried away the creatures’ heads, ten to a sack.

Dubbed the “world’s bloodiest festival”, it is estimated that well over 200,000 animals were sacrificed on Sunday and Monday as devotees marked the Gadhimai festival in Bariyarpur, a small town 10 miles north of Nepal’s border with India.

Held every five years, the sacrifice is the culmination of a month-long celebration to honour the Hindu goddess Gadhimai in return for prosperity.

“This temple is recognised as the largest animal sacrifice site in the world… [and] I am the eleventh generation continuing the tradition,” Shiva Chaudhari, the high priest, told the Telegraph. “This is a matter of our tradition and culture, and everyone should respect it. There is no question of stopping it.”

But there is a growing stand off between the devotees who consider the ritual an untouchable cornerstone of their religion, and the animal welfare activists at home and internationally who decry the event as cruel and unnecessary – including the French actress Brigitte Bardot and Britain’s Joanna Lumley.

“As animal rights activists, we understand there are several other industries, like the meat industry, where animals get slaughtered and killed every day,” said Arkaprava Bhar, senior manager of campaigns for Humane Society International’s (HSI) India office.

“The point is, the magnitude of the cruelty is completely different…. There is no other thing I can imagine which can match with the cruelty level of this particular festival.”

The festival dates back more than 250 years, when the founder of the temple dreamt that the goddess Gadhimai wanted blood in return for freeing him from prison, protecting him from evil, and ensuring prosperity. After successfully persuading the deity to accept an animal instead of a human, he kick started a ritual that has since been repeated every five years.

At its peak, devotees estimate that some 2.5 million animals were slaughtered as people travelled from across India and Nepal to take part. But the last decade has seen a surge in criticism, and a series of court orders have tempered proceedings.

In 2014, the Supreme Court of India directed the government to halt the illegal movement of animals across the porous border with Nepal for use in the festival. Five years later, Nepal’s highest court ordered an end to sacrifices, and urged authorities to phase out the practice worldwide.

Activists have also launched door-to-door awareness campaigns from activists in the region urging people to abstain, while joint effort from border police and NGOs has sought to confiscate animals being transported from India to Nepal for the event – HSI said it had helped rescue more than 700 buffaloes, goats, pigeons and chickens in the last week.

“If people are killing in the meat industry, there is a reason: to consume it,” says Mr Bhar. “And it’s completely different because there are standards and you have to follow certain rules. Here there is none of that. And there is zero sanitation, so from the health aspect it is also very, very bad.

“But thankfully, most of the younger generation have a better education… and understand these things. Those I’ve met are in favour of stopping this practice.”

Others, though, lament that the government is obfuscating and trying to limit photography, rather than end the sacrifice.

“But the government is blatantly disregarding the Supreme Court’s order,” said Sneha Shrestha, president of the Federation of Animal Welfare Nepal. “Not only is there a lack of support, but the government has actually been uncooperative…  [and] high-ranking government officials in Nepal are still sending animals for sacrifices.”

Activists also claim that the temple wants to continue the ritual because it’s a money-maker.

In a statement Alokparna Sengupta, HSI’s India director, said it costs a fee of 500 Nepali rupees (£3) to slaughter a buffalo, while the temple makes money from auctioning off the animal meat and skins.

“It is disgraceful that the Gadhimai temple committee is exploiting the hopes, fears and frustrations of impoverished people for its own profit,” he said.

Yet, with fervent devotees arguing that the sacrifice is an important element of their beliefs, the sacrifice seems unlikely to end soon.

“People from India have been arriving a month in advance and are staying in villages, they come with tents and settle in the villages nearby,” said Lalbabu Thakur, who lives in the nearby village Majhadiya. He added that across the region, animals were being prepared ahead of Sunday’s sacrifice – including 15,000 in his village alone.

“There is a belief that by offering sacrifices, our desires or wishes are fulfilled,” Mr Thakur told the Telegraph. “After visiting Gadhimai, people feel that their vows have been fulfilled, and their wishes granted. This is the reason why the tradition has continued for such a long time. The scene there cannot be described in ordinary terms. It is something that is felt.”

Shyam Prasad Yadav, Gadimai’s mayor, added: The issue of animal sacrifice is a matter of people’s faith and belief… Although animal rights activists have raised questions and suggested reducing the practice, it seems unlikely to happen in the near future.”

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