The two-day Mundeshwar Khairaling religious festival concluded with the religious rituals performed at the Mahadev temple situated on the top of the Kaljikhal block in Pauri district without a single animal sacrifice. This is the sixth year when the festival has been held sans any animal sacrifice.
Earlier, buffaloes and goats in their hundreds were sacrificed to propitiate the deities by way of wish-fulfillment. However, the practice stopped thanks to the untiring efforts of the district administration and some voluntary organisations. The people were motivated through relentless campaigning on the lack of religiousness in slaughtering innocent animals for self-aggrandizement.
Mundaneshwar Khairaling was one of the four important religious festivals known for the practice of animal sacrifice. The ritual was widespread during Bungkhal and Kanda Mela aside from Mundeshwar Kharaling Mela. It has been stopped at these religious festivals while it is still thriving at Kalinga mela. Kalinga mela is held in December every two years .
Hundreds of devotees, including some from Bengal, visited the temple to pay obeisance to the deities on the auspicious occasion. Sub-divisional magistrate Pl Shah said that the revenue and regular police had been deputed in the mela area to maintain peace. Several departments pitched stalls in the mela premises. Drinking water was provided to the devotees through Jal Sansthan tankers, he further added.