Hindu society is characterized by many contradictions in its beliefs, philosophy and customs; some claim that their doctrine system is based on monotheism but at the same time, we see that polytheism and idol worship are deep-rooted and widely spread in Indian society. Among those contradictions comes the ritual of slaughtering animals in an open field in Nepal. It is well- known that many Hindus refuse to eat meat and deny slaughtering animals while you can see in the following photos Hindu devotees brought their sacrificial animals from remote areas to a specific field and slaughtered their sacrifices one by one in front of other animals ruthlessly. Thousands of animals are slaughtered on this occasion.

More than two million worshipers have traveled to Nepal for the mass slaughter of animals in honor of a Hindu goddess. Some readers may find these pictures upsetting.

Devotees believe the mass sacrifice pleases Gadhimai, the goddess of power.

Organizers say the festival is a generations-old tradition, but animal rights campaigners say it is barbaric.

One of those attending said the atmosphere was “like a carnival”.

More than 5,000 buffalo were killed on Friday.

Goats, rats, chickens, pigs and pigeons were also brought to the festival for sacrifice.

Vendors at the festival sold different types of sacrificial knives.

The bodies of the animals, filling the air with the smell of freshly slaughtered meat, will eventually be buried in a large pit.

It is not yet known how many animals will be slaughtered over the two days, but 300,000 were slaughtered at the last festival in 2009.

You can read an extensive article on the issue of slaughtering animal in Hinduism on this link.