Nepalese culture and tradition is supposed to be very animal-friendly as many of the animals such as cows, snakes, monkeys, elephants, etc. are considered as the avatars of God and are worshipped. But there are some practices that have always drawn a huge amount of criticism from all around the world. The infamous Gadhimai Festival which takes place every five year, did take place in November last year as well even after various protests were held against it worldwide. And now it’s time for Khokana Festival, a yet another gruesome practice that takes place in August annually.

The Khokana Festival is celebrated by the locals of Khokana Municipality in Lalitpur and part of this celebration includes tearing apart a live young goat. As part of the ritual, a young goat of up to 6 months is thrown into a pond near Rudrayani Temple. Nine young guys enter the pond and attack the goat, tearing its organs apart and the one who makes the fatal move, killing the goat, is titled as the hero at the traditional dance that follows this show of barbarianism. Those familiar with the tradition tell that the killing practice gets its origin from fear of gods which held people in medieval times when a number of children drowned in the pond. Killing a goat then emerged as a kind of sacrifice to appease the gods.

Whether or not the gods are appeased by this show of gory killing, the animal rights supporters surely are outraged at the continuation of cruel killing of a harmless, helpless creature in the name of culture. They are currently demanding the authorities in Nepal to move against the horror and prohibit it legally. A petition has also been launched online to put an end to it and thousands of people have signed already to help end this cultural nightmare in Khokana.

If you think that this ritual must not be continued and needs to be stopped, you can sign the online petition against it HERE. Watch a small video clip from the festival below.

See Also: Gadhimai Festival: The Mother of All Sacrifices