Gadhimai festival is a sacrificial ceremony that is held every 5 years at the Gadhimai Temple of Bariyarpur, in Bara District, Nepal. It 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 500,000 animals were sacrificed during the Gadhimai festival of 2009. Are you serious? Where are all the animal rights activists?
My blog is not for providing information about Gadhimai Festival. We can find several articles about it on web. I really found those articles depressing. The festival is for impressing goddess they say. And they also say the goddess favor peace and love. How can someone get peace by slaughtering animals? And I would like to add that the festival is actually not attended by Nepalese but 80% are the people from Indian states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. The rest 20% are Madhesi people of our country.
At this statement I find little joy, at least not Nepalese people are into this cruel crime because these are Indian people who are favoring the festival. Yes, I would call it a crime. But the arena is ours. The festival is celebrated at our place. How poor we could have been?
A month before the ritual in 2009, the Madheshi politicians realized there would be a “severe shortage” of goats for the ritual sacrifice, as well as for the consumption of goat meat during the festival. They began a radio campaign urging farmers to sell their animals. So Nepalese people have one benefit after all, i.e. they can sell their animals to those foreign devotees.
After the festival, the meat, bones and hides of the animals are sold to companies in India and Nepal. But this is illegal. Why do we allow foreign people to sacrifice animals in the birth place of Buddha, who introduced and encouraged peace to entire world? The entire world knows about this festival and they are building the concept that the Nepalese are cruel and stone-hearted.
I’ve so many questions unanswered. I want reasons and opinions. The festival has prompted numerous protests by animal rights activists and Nepalese Hindus from Hill region. Well done people. In 2009 activists made several attempts to stop the ritual, including Brigitte Bardot and Maneka Gandhi, who wrote to the Nepalese government asking them to stop the killings. A government official commented that they would not “interfere in the centuries-old tradition of the Madheshi people.”
Ram Bahadur Bomjon, claimed by some of his supporters to be the reincarnation of the Buddha, said that he would attempt to stop the sacrifice at the festival, preaching non-violence and offering a blessing at the place. I’m sure the festival will come to an end someday and the mothers after some years will tell their children, the bed time story about the horrifying Gadhimai Festival and how some brave warriors brought it to an end.
Actually, cutting a goat or a buffalo is same. Cutting 500 goats in Dashain or cutting 500,000 buffaloes in Gadhimai is similar after all. This is not just a major issue in Nepal. There are plenty of festivals worldwide where mass killing of animals either in the name of gods or food take place.
If we look into our neighboring country China, there is a festival celebrated annually in Yulin, Guangxi in June where people eat dog meat and lychees. More than 10,000 dogs were killed and consumed earlier which decreased to 1000 in 2015.
Why talk about festivals or ceremonies when the farm houses are killing millions of animals everyday just for the sake of food. There are several crimes committed by people by violating animals’ right.
If you feed on meat yourself, or sacrifice a goat during Dashain, and yet are against Gadhimai, you are a fool. A festival as deadly as Gadhimai can only be stopped when people are against any kind of animal cruelty.
Aleena Rayamajhi
