Gadhimai Festival Animal Sacrifice
Animal Sacrifice banned at Gadhimai Festival of Nepal from this year (2015).
On July 28, 2015 Ghadimai Temple Trust hereby declares formal decision to end animal sacrifice, which had been continuing for the last 265 years.
Gadhimai festival is a sacrificial ceremony that is held every 5 years at the Gadhimai Temple of Bariyarpur, in Bara District, about 160 km south of the capital Kathmandu in the southern Nepal, near the Indo-Nepal border, adjacent to Bihar.
Gadhimai festival is primarily celebrated by the Madheshi and Bihari people. The event involves the large scale sacrificial slaughter of animals including water buffaloes, pigs, goats, chickens, and pigeons – with the goal of pleasing Gadhimai, the goddess of power.
It is estimated that 250,000 animals were sacrificed during the Gadhimai festival of 2009.