Priest plays vampire at temple ritual

The spectacle, straight out of a horror movie unfolded in front of a temple at M Shettyhalli near here on Friday.

The occasion was the mass animal sacrifice by devotees of the deity Pattaladamma. Even as 28 sheep and goats and dozens of chickens began to be sacrificed by slashing their throats, priest of the temple Guddappa Bore Gowda began to rock on his feet, apparently under a spell.

Declaring his intention to drink the warm blood gushing out of the slashed throats of the sheep and goats, Guddappa launched into an incomprehensible babble. As the devotees looked on, half in fascination and half in horror, Guddappa fell on the animals in their death throes and drank their blood. In between, he would utter blood-curdling cries, invoking some obscure goddess or the other.

The gory scene lasted half an hour. As Guddappa finished with each animal, a man would haul the carcass and throw it into a pile. Later, the devotees would picked their votive offerings, and cook in the vicinity for a tasty meal.

This horrifying ritual has been a regular feature at the temple for the last 15 years. As the legend of the temple grew, besides the people of M Shettyhalli, those from other villages too began making the ritual sacrifice at the temple.

Why has not the administration stopped the sacrifice which is offensive both to the law and sensibilities? “We can stop animal sacrifice at Muzrai (Government-controlled) temples. We are helpless if it happens at a non-Muzrai temple,” Tahsildar N C Jagadeesh said. “I don’t have all the information,” he added, for good measure.