The famous Kalinka Bungkhal religious fair held in Bungkhal at Chakisain Tehsil of Pauri district concluded peacefully on the weekend without any animal sacrifice. This is the fifth consecutive year when no animal has been sacrificed in the name of religion with the worship in the Goddess Kalinka temple at Bungkhal being observed and performed by a large numbers of the devotees with great enthusiasm.
The Bungkhal Mela is celebrated every year in the first week of December. Thousands of devotees offered prayers to Kalinka Goddess at the temple from Friday to the end of Mela. The ritual of scarificing animals – male buffaloes and goats was continued here for many years before it was stopped about five years ago by the district administration, volunteers and the temple committee following orders of the Uttarakhand high court banning the slaughter of animals at shrines in the name of religion. Since the passing of this order the district administration had started putting in place fool-proof security arrangements with deployment of the police force to prevent animal slaughter here. This was the fifth consecutive year when no animal was sacrificed in the temple in the name of religion.
The devotees from different parts of the Pauri district, other parts of the state and even neighboring states visit the temple to worship the goddess at the shrine to have their desire fulfilled on the occasion of the mela.
The devotees in large numbers reached the temple with their flag (nishan) and doli (ceremonial palanquin) of the goddess to the beats of drums. They either pray to the deities to fulfill their wishes or thank goddess for fulfilling their desire.
This year too the district police administration had made fool proof arrangements to ensure that the mela was completed peacefully and without any animal sacrifice. Twelve check posts were established surrounding the Bungkhal temple area and barricades were erected along the roads leading to Bungkhal. Adequate number of both the regular police and revenue police were deployed at the key points to prevent animals from being smuggled into the temple premises for slaughter.