Until a few years back people following Hinduism who celebrate Dashain festival used to offer sacrifices of billy goats at the special altar at their homes where they used to grow Jamara or the barley shoots as special auspicious item for the Bada Dashain festival.[break]
But these days this practice is gradually going out of favour of the people in the countryside adjoining Kathmandu.
It was customary for the people in the rural belt adjoining the capital city to sacrifice billy goats, mountain goats or sheep at the special altar at their homes dedicated to the goddess Nava Durga or at the courtyard of their homes.
Some people also used to offer animal sacrifices to their vehicles. This practice is also gradually going out of favour, thanks to the awareness among the people.
“We used to sacrifice billy goats at the courtyard of our house and keep the severed head of the animal at the special altar before. But we do not do this any longer since the last five years,” said Ram Sharan Puri, a resident of Chhaling VDC, Bhaktapur.
Ninety-nine percent of the people of the Brahmin, Chhetri and Dasnami community living in this rural belt adjoining Kathmandu who used to follow this practice have abandoned this practice for good, according to the community leaders.
Ram Prasad Acharya, a religious preacher, says nowhere it is mentioned in the scriptures that animals should be sacrificed to appease the goddess Nava Durga who is believed to have slain the demons and protected the people.
He said offering animal sacrifice is not a positive practice and it is against the religious mores to do so.
Due to the growing awareness, people in the rural areas these days offer coconut, fruits and vegetables instead of animal sacrifices to the goddess Nava Durga.
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