After dozens of goats sacrificed at shrine during Raja
About 40 goats were sacrificed to propitiate the goddess in the Mahakala temple within the famous Buddhist site Udayagiri in Jajpur district on Monday. The event, which happens every year on Raja festival, began with the decapitation of a goat, killed in honour of the goddess in the temple.
Goats were queued up and slaughtered one after another on Monday in the temple. Former Jajpur MP Mohan Jena criticized the persons who sacrificed animals at the Buddhist site.
“I demand the Superintendent of Police to arrest those persons who sacrificed animals in Udayagiri. lord Buddha is the symbol of peace. But some persons besmirched the name of Udayagiri by sacrificing animals in the temple,” said Dr Nrusingh Charana Sahoo, a noted researcher of Jajpur.
As per an ancient tradition, the animals were first taken to the temple where vermilion was applied on their foreheads. Then they were taken to the altar of the temple for sacrifice. They were slaughtered one by one, with sharp-edged weapons by the butchers while offering their special prayers to the goddess.
Frightened animals galloped around in vain as the butcher chopped off their heads. A priest of the temple said he was pleased with the festival’s high turnout and insisted tradition had to be kept. “The goddess needs blood,” he said, adding, “Then only a person can make his wishes come true.”
“It is the traditional way,” explained Santosh Rout (45) of Udayagiri village who has been attending the event since he was 12. “If we want anything, and we come here with an offering to the goddess, within a year all our dreams will be fulfilled,” he said.
When contacted district superintendent of Archeological Survey of India (ASI) AK Patel said, “The ASI earlier had urged the villagers not to sacrifice any animals in the temple. But they did not pay any heed. The ASI is planning to file FIR against the priests of the temple and devotees who sacrificed animals.”
“We will arrest all those persons who sacrificed animals at Udayagiri,” said Jajpur Sub- Collector Maheswar Panigrahi.