650 goats sacrificed in Orissa to appease deity
Bhadrak (Orissa) : Around 650 goats were sacrificed at a Kali temple in Orissa as part of an annual ritual despite a ban by the local administration, an official said Monday.
The sacrifice was made at the Rakshya Kali temple at Rameswarpur village in Bhadrak district, about 170 km from state capital Bhubaneswar, Saturday night. The incident came to light Monday after some officials and villagers reported it.
The mass sacrifice is held once a year in the Hindu month of Chaitra. "Our village is always guarded by Rakshya Kali. It is a 72-year-old tradition," villager Dibakar Barik told IANS.
"Earlier, devotees used to offer buffaloes as sacrifice. Now we sacrifice goats," he said.
According to local police, who witnessed the event, the area around the temple's sacrificial altar was soaked in blood. The animals were first garlanded before being led to the altar and their cries got drowned by the beating of drums.
Some devotees even scrambled to touch the blood of the sacrificed animals, believed to be auspicious and a good omen, while some even smeared it on their forehead, an official said on condition of anonymity.
Last year, animal rights activists had launched protests when hundreds of goats were sacrificed at the same temple in the presence of Revenue Minister Manmohan Samal. The activists had also burnt an effigy of the minister.
A week ago, the district administration made an attempt to stop the practice. Top district and police officials had held a meeting with temple committee members and villagers.
It was decided that only one animal would be sacrificed, but the devotees flouted the agreement, the official said.
According to him, a 15-year-old girl of the village rushed to the temple with a group of villagers and claimed she was the personification of the deity. She threatened to kill anyone who stopped the sacrifice. The frightened devotees continued the practice, he said.
"We are helpless," district collector N.K. Burma said. "It can only be stopped when the people want and for that we are creating awareness."
