More than fifty hens and goats were mercilessly slaughtered on the occasion of Jagrata Gouri Panchami before the deity Jagulai at two different places in Berhampur and Pakhada under Garadapur block in Kendrapada district on Sunday.
As the age-old belief to satisfy deities by offering animal sacrifice, the devotees performed the rituals at Berhampur in front of 300- year old Maa Budhi Jagulai temple, when the Bije Pratima of Jagulai started the annual sojourn of visiting to villages to bless the villagers of prosperity. A dozen of hens were slaughtered before the deity when it came out from the temple and later the devotees of Pakhada village sacrificed hens and goats when the Bije Pratima of the deity reached at the entrance of the village.
The locals believe that deity Jagulai protects them from all sorts of problem coming in their way. To appease the goddess, they practice animal sacrifice which is a age-old ritual here, they said. The villagers of Garadpur, Berhampur, Sitalapatana, Khardasahi, Tigiria, Nuapada and its adjoining villages came on the occasion of Jagrata Gouri Panchami to offer animal sacrifice to fulfill their wishes. However, a few devotees who brought hens to sacrifice near the deity released the hens in the name of deity, stated deity Jagulai’s priest Ratnakar Rana.