Over 15,000 goats sacrificed by Nepalese and Indian devotees at Nepal's Rajdevi Temple

Kathmandu: Thousands of devotees from Nepal and India sacrificed more than 15,000 goats at the Rajdevi Temple in Nepal's Janakpur city on the 8th and 9th day of the Dashain festival, an office bearer of the shrine said on Monday.

Dashain, a 10-day long festival, is celebrated across Nepal to worship goddess Durga and Vijay Dashami is the last day of the festival. The eighth and ninth days of the festival are known as Ashtami and Navami and are equally important and are when the animal sacrifices are made by the devotees.

A number of Indian Hindus also visit the temple during the occasion to make animal sacrifices due to the restrictions on such rituals in several Indian states.

'Altogether 15,251 goats were sacrificed in the devi’s temple on Ashtami and Navami Sunday and Monday during the festival,' Janak Pokharel, the Information Officer at Guthi Sansthan that manages affairs of shrines across Nepal, said.

He said that 50 per cent of the goats sacrificed were brought by people coming from India.

'This is a centuries-old tradition and 50 per cent of the goats being sacrificed there were brought by people coming from India,' he told PTI.

The sacrifice of the goats started at 8 p.m. on Sunday and lasted till 4 a.m. on Monday.

The animal sacrifice is arranged by the local Mahavir Youth Committee, which charges Rs 200 per goat from the visitors.

People carrying goats had queued at the temple premises for animal sacrifice since Sunday afternoon.