The Gadhimai Festival is held every five years and brings in millions of pilgrims from India and Nepal. In 2009, 500,000 buffaloes, goats and chickens were killed. In 2014, the number dropped after a ruling by the Indian Supreme Court banning livestock movement between the two countries.
This is not the only Hindu festival in which animals are slaughtered. The country has been repeatedly criticised by domestic and international observers for such cruel practices.
The article doesn’t explain what is cruel about the killing - if it is done in a particularly painful way or if it is just the killing they object to. Nor does it say if the meat is eaten or given entirely to the goddess. Anyone know?
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