By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Oct. 8: The mass sacrificial ceremony that used to take place every year at the Taleju Temple of Hanuman Dhoka and Bhaktapur on the day of Maha Nawami has been canceled this year due to fears of COVID-19 transmission.
The priests will perform only special worship to please the goddess Taleju Bhawanis of both the temples.
In the event a large number animals including buffaloes, he-goats, sheep and ducks, used to be sacrificed with a goal of pleasing goddess Durga as part of celebrations of the biggest festival of the Hindus.
Hindus in Nepal sacrifice animals during the festival as part of celebrations throughout the country while offering worship to goddess Durga. The temple is opened to public only once a year on the day of Maha Nawami during the Dashain festival for prayers, worshipping and animal sacrifice, but this year the devotees will not be allowed to enter the temple due to the over-crowding of devotees during the time of COVID-19 pandemic.
In the past years, the Guthi Sansthan used to provide 60 he-goats, 31 he-buffaloes and 30 ducks for mass sacrificial ceremony at the Bhaktapur-based Taleju Temple during Dashain festival. But, this year such mass sacrificial ceremony has been put off and the temple’s door will not open for the devotees even in Dashain festival, said Sunil Prajapati, Mayor of Bhaktapur Municipality.
A meeting of representatives of the District Administrative Office, Metropolitan Police Circle, chief of Guthi Sansthan and priests of Taleju Temple took the decision, said Ananda Karmacharya, chief of Bhaktapur Guthi Sansthan.
Except for the mass sacrificial ceremony, other regular worshipping and prayer ceremony will be performed by the concerned priests, he added.
Mayor Prajapati further said that 40 priests are needed to perform the mass sacrificial ceremony at Taleju Temple of Bhaktapur. Entry of other devotees makes the crowd of people bigger. “So, we have decided to cancel this year’s mass sacrificial ceremony and limit only regular worshipping ritual,” he added.
Sandeep Khanal, chief of Hanuman Dhoka Museum, said that 108 animal sacrificial ceremony of Taleju Temple of Hanuman Dhoka has also been canceled this time with the growing cases of coronavirus in the Kathmandu Valley.
Pension Management Office allocates the budget to buy 54 he-buffaloes, 54 he-goats and 54-ducks to sacrifice every year. The concerned authority of Taleju Temple has made a decision not to sacrifice animals and only limit to special worship of the goddess, he added.