Gadhimai

While in Kalaiya in the Bara District, we visited the famous Gadhimai temple. Gadhimai is known as the black mother, the creator, and the goddess of power. In the temple, Hindus give offerings to the goddess.

During our time here, we learned about the Gadhimai festival which happens every five years. The last one was in 2014, and the next will happen in the following year in September or October. During the festival, over 100,000 animals are slaughtered for a sacrifice to Gadhimai.

The festival started around 250 years ago when a priest was told in a dream that spilled blood would encourage Gadhimai to free him from prison. Animals that are slaughtered include: water buffaloes, goats, chickens, pigs, and pigeons. There are 300-500 men who are selected by the temple committee to be the butchers during the event. They must have a license. However, none of the men have any experience in the humane killing of animals. These men will often pay to be able to slaughter the animals. The position is greatly honored and valued.

All castes are allowed to attend the festival. Around 4 million attended the last Gadhimai festival in 2014. Men, women, and children gather around to partake. People from all over the terai region travel to participate in Gadhimai. Animals are brought in from India and all over Nepal.

In the eyes of Hindus, animal sacrifice is the most powerful way to appease the gods. Not only that, but it provides an income to families in the area. They eat the meat, sell it, and make a profit off of leather.

Many people oppose the festival for a number of reasons.

1. The animals are mistreated before the festival even starts: Animals either have to walk for days to get to the Bara district or remain cramped in trucks or on bicycles. They are often starved of food and water for the whole journey. Small animals are cramped into small spaces with no ventilation. The committee members claim that the animals will be killed quickly and painlessly during the festival. However, this is not the case.
2. Health hazards: Because of their religious beliefs, they do not realize nor accept the health hazards that might exist in consuming meat that has been sitting for days in unsanitary conditions. They believe that the offering cannot decay. There is no concept of hygiene during the festival. Carcasses lay all around the area. There is so much blood that it is impossible not to walk in.
3. Mental health: Children are taken to witness all that occurs during Gadhimai. Many children are left depressed and fearful after the festival.

Efforts by animal equality organizations have been made to put an end to the festival, but have not been entirely successful. However, steps have been made to reduce the number of killings. Animal Equality India requested to ban the movement of animals across the Indo-Nepal border during the festival. Because of this, around 2,000 animals were stopped at the border. At one time, it was believed that the animal sacrifice was banned at the festival. However, the temple chairman said otherwise. He told BBC, “Devout Hindus could be requested not to offer animal sacrifice to the goddess, but they could not be forced not to do so – nor [could] the tradition be banned or stopped completely.”

From my conversations with villagers that I met in the Bara district, the festival still seems to be thriving. Although obvious efforts have been made in attempt to end the festival, every single person I encountered said that the festival would indeed happen again in fall of 2019, along with the animal sacrifices. People have offered other solutions, such as having a peaceful worship celebration and offering fruit or vegetables to this goddess rather than killing animals. However, devout Hindus have made it known that if they do not kill thousands of animals, entire villages will be destroyed. This deity will not compromise.

Sources used:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadhimai_festival

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-33699136