Editing Animal sacrifice (section)

=== Shaktism traditions ===
[[File:Immolation Sacrifice, Mouh Boli, Durga Puja.jpg|thumb|A male buffalo calf about to be sacrificed by a priest in the Durga Puja festival. The buffalo sacrifice practice, however, is rare in contemporary India.<ref>{{cite book|author=Christopher John Fuller|author-link=Chris Fuller (academic)|title=The Camphor Flame: Popular Hinduism and Society in India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=To6XSeBUW3oC |year=2004|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=0-691-12048-X|page=141}}</ref>]]
Animal sacrifices are performed mainly at temples following the [[Shakti]] school of [[Hinduism]] where the female nature of [[Brahman]] is worshipped in the form of [[Kali]] and [[Durga]]. These traditions are followed in parts of eastern states of India at [[Hindu temple]]s in [[Assam]] and [[West Bengal]] India and [[Nepal]] where [[goat]]s, [[chicken]]s and sometimes [[water buffalo]]s are sacrificed.

Animal sacrifice is a part of Durga puja celebrations during the Navratri in eastern states of India. The goddess is offered sacrificial animal in this ritual in the belief that it stimulates her violent vengeance against the buffalo demon.<ref name="fuller83">{{cite book|author=Christopher John Fuller|author-link=Chris Fuller (academic)|title=The Camphor Flame: Popular Hinduism and Society in India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=To6XSeBUW3oC |year=2004|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=0-691-12048-X|pages=46, 83–85}}</ref> According to [[Chris Fuller (academic)|Christopher Fuller]], the animal sacrifice practice is rare among Hindus during Navratri, or at other times, outside the [[Shaktism]] tradition found in the eastern Indian states of West Bengal, Odisha<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Hardenberg|first1=Roland|title=Visnu's Sleep, Mahisa's Attack, Durga's Victory: Concepts of Royalty in a Sacrificial Drama|journal=Journal of Social Science|year=2000|volume=4|issue= 4 |page= 267 |url= http://www.krepublishers.com/02-Journals/JSS/JSS-04-0-000-000-2000-Web/JSS-04-04-227-2000-Abst-PDF/JSS-04-04-261-276-2000.pdf|access-date=29 September 2015}}</ref> and Assam. Further, even in these states, the festival season is one where significant animal sacrifices are observed.<ref name="fuller83" /> In some Shakta Hindu communities, the slaying of buffalo demon and victory of Durga is observed with a symbolic sacrifice instead of animal sacrifice.{{sfn|Hillary Rodrigues|2003|pp=277–78}}{{sfn|June McDaniel|2004|pp=204–05}}{{refn|group=note|In these cases, Shaktism devotees consider animal sacrifice distasteful, practice alternate means of expressing devotion while respecting the views of others in their tradition.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Ira Katznelson|author2=Gareth Stedman Jones|title=Religion and the Political Imagination|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pWYXdLW00UsC |year=2010 |publisher= Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-49317-8|page=343}}</ref> A statue of ''[[asura]]'' demon made of flour, or equivalent, is immolated and smeared with vermilion to remember the blood that had necessarily been spilled during the war.{{sfn|Hillary Rodrigues |2003|pp=277–78}}{{sfn|June McDaniel|2004|pp= 204–05}} Other substitutes include a vegetal or sweet dish considered equivalent to the animal.<ref>{{cite book|author=Rachel Fell McDermott|title=Revelry, Rivalry, and Longing for the Goddesses of Bengal: The Fortunes of Hindu Festivals|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ggBeH_lmUu8C |year=2011|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn= 978-0-231-12919-0 |pages=204–05}}</ref>}}

Animal sacrifice ''en masse'' occurs during the three-day-long [[Gadhimai festival]] in Nepal. In 2009 it was speculated that more than 250,000 animals were killed<ref>{{cite news |author=Olivia Lang in Bariyapur |date=2009-11-24 |title=Hindu sacrifice of 250,000 animals begins |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/nov/24/hindu-sacrifice-gadhimai-festival-nepal |access-date=2012-08-13}}</ref> while 5 million devotees attended the festival.<ref>{{cite news |date=2009-11-24 |title=Ritual animal slaughter begins in Nepal |publisher=CNN |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/11/24/nepal.animal.sacrifice/index.html |access-date=2012-08-13}}</ref> However, this practise was later banned in 2015.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ram Chandra |first1=Shah |title=Gadhimai Temple Trust Chairman, Mr Ram Chandra Shah, on the decision to stop holding animal sacrifices during the Gadhimai festival. Later the trust denied the decision, as per trust such decision was obtained forcefully by animal right. Trust said it is not in our hand to stop the sacrifice it is up to people, as trust or priest never ask devotee to offer sacrifice. It is their sole and self decision . |url=http://www.hsi.org/assets/pdfs/gadhimai-temple-trust-statement-ram-chandra-shah.pdf |access-date=29 July 2015 |website=Humane Society International}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Meredith |first1=Charlotte |date=29 July 2015 |title=Thousands of Animals Have Been Saved in Nepal as Mass Slaughter Is Cancelled |work=[[Vice News]] |agency=[[Vice Media, Inc.]] |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/thousands-of-animals-have-been-saved-in-nepal-as-mass-slaughter-is-cancelled/ |access-date=29 July 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Kumar Yadav |first1=Praveen |last2=Tripathi |first2=Ritesh |date=29 July 2015 |title=Gadhimai Trust dismisses reports on animal sacrifice ban |url=http://admin.myrepublica.com/feature-article/item/25385-gadhimai-trust-dismisses-reports-on-animal-sacrifice-ban.html#sthash.giaWaoIt.gbpl |url-status=dead |access-date=26 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180627230640/http://admin.myrepublica.com/feature-article/item/25385-gadhimai-trust-dismisses-reports-on-animal-sacrifice-ban.html#sthash.giaWaoIt.gbpl |archive-date=27 June 2018}}</ref>